UC-NRLF 


B   M   SDt   t>t3 


Japan 


M?L 


ean 


n 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

PRESENTED  BY 

PROF. CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 

MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


/A 


yi  Kjrentle  Jen\ 
in  Ja^ 


>an 


0/  this  edition  there  have  been  printed  from 
type  by  Douglas  C.  McMiirlrie  one  thou- 
sand copies  only  on  Ozaka  linen  paper. 


This  is  copy  number  ...X- 


CHERRY  BLOSSOMS  IN  FRONT  OF  THE 
BRITISH  EMBASSY,  TOKYO 


A  Gentle  Jehu 
IN  Japan 

by 
EtKelL.M.?Lean 


New\brk 
Dodd.Mead  and  Company 


1911 


Copyright,  1912,  by  Ethel  L.  McLean 


affectionately  dedicated  to 
My  Mother 


JDSs/o 

M23 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


I 

Across  the  Continent 1 

II 

The  Pacific 12 

III 

An  American  Territory 16 

IV 
On  to  Japan 33 

V 
Yokohama 38 

VI 

The  Inland  Sea 47 

VII 
Kyoto 62 

VIII 
The  Cherry  Dance 78 

IX 

Human  Tandems 88 

X 

The  Capital 106 

XI 
Easter.      .      .- 120 

XII 

Hospitality  and  Ceremonial.      .      .      .   130 

XIII 
Fujiyama 138 

XIV 

Farewell  to  Nippon 144 


A  Gentle  Jehu  in  Japan 
I 

ACROSS  THE  CONTINENT 

February  ninth. 

T  MUST  have  been  very  foolish  — 
everybody  told  us  it  was — with  a 
long  journey  across  country  ahead 
of  us  and  so  many  trains  to  choose 
from,  to  allow  only  thirty-five  minutes  for  our 
connection  at  Montreal  and  that  at  a  time  when 
even  the  trains  between  New  York  and  Buffalo 
were  running  four  to  five  hours  behind  schedule. 
The  fact  that  by  so  doing  we  went  in  and  out 
of  the  same  depot  was  very  tempting — and  why 
did  they  claim  that  the  C.  P.  R.  Express  would 
wait  half  an  hour  for  us  if  it  was  not  a  safe  gamble. 
We  had  not  been  an  hour  out  of  New  York 
when  we  had  a  hot-box.  From  there  on  one 
kind  of  a  delay  followed  another  until  we  began 
to  think  of  the  advantages  of  a  night  in  Montreal 
and  to  count  the  number  of  friends  who  could 
claim  to  have  advised  us. 

Tingling  with  excitement  and  a  decided  feel- 
ing of  uncertainty  we  finally  prepared  to  alight 

[1] 


ACROSS    THE    CONTINENT 

at  the  junction  in  the  hope  that  "she"  was  still 
waiting. 

We  slowed  down,  the  porter  dropped  our  bags 
off,  then  once  more  we  forged  ahead.  Three 
frantic  pulls  on  the  rope  and  we  came  to  a  dead 
stop.  It  was  snowing  hard  as  we  hurried  back 
along  the  platform  and  nothing  could  be  seen 
save  the  brilliantly  lighted  train, — steam  up, 
like  a  bird  poised  for  flight — and  a  small  dark 
spot  which  was  our  luggage.  What  a  relief, 
after  the  rush  of  the  last  few  weeks,  to  find  a 
smiling  porter  making  up  our  compartment  for 
the  night  and  to  know  that  for  five  days  at  least — 
more  if  we  had  bad  luck — we  would  have  nothing 
to  do  but  eat  and  sleep,  look  out  at  the  scenery 
and  read ! 

February  twelfth. 

Never  have  I  seen  so  much  snow!  For  two 
days  we  have  wandered  along  river-banks  and 
lake-borders  and  never  a  sign  of  water.  Even 
the  ice  is  invisible  under  its  mantle  of  snow,  we 
can  only  tell  where  the  water  ought  to  be  by 
the  slope  of  the  banks  and  the  lovely  white 
hills  specked  with  firs.  Today  all  that  has 
changed.  Not  a  hill,  not  a  stream  or  body  of 
water  of  any  kind — the  perfect  flatness  would  be 
monotonous  were  it  not  that  every  twig  of  every 

[2] 


ACROSS   THE    CONTINENT 

bush  and  tree,  every  weed,  is  ice-coated.     It 
looks  like  fairy-land  and  is  a  constant  delight. 

February  thirteenth. 

This  morning,  to  quote  the  porter,  "the  scen- 
ery began." 

The  Rockies  are  certainly  well  named.  Such 
majestic  masses  of  stone  must  be  awe-inspiring 
and  breath-snatching  at  any  time,  but  laden 
with  snow,  as  they  are  now,  are  beyond  descrip- 
tion. One  cannot  drink  it  all  in,  shooting  through 
on  an  express.  A  camping  trip  seems  to  be  the 
only  solution,  but  one  would  have  to  stop  and 
camp  every  few  miles.  To  our  great  delight, 
the  thermometer  has  risen  so  that  sitting  on  the 
observation  platform  is  quite  comfortable.  A 
few  tunnels,  short  ones,  and  many  snow-sheds, 
are  the  only  unpleasant  features.  Two  drum- 
mers who  conversed  loudly  on  the  comparative 
merits  of  different  brands  of  sardines  and  cigars 
occasionally  brought  us  to  earth  with  a  dull  thud. 
The  enormous  height  of  the  trees  adds  to  the  mag- 
nificence and  a  snow-storm  this  afternoon  seemed 
to  be  the  last  possible  touch  of  beauty.  As  an 
engineering  feat  this  trip  is  a  marvel  and  I'm 
not  surprised  to  hear  that  it  is  becoming  so 
popular  in  Summer  that  the  railroad  company  is 
busy  enlarging  all  their  hotels  along  the  route. 

[31 


ACROSS    THE    CONTINENT 

As  the  "show-places"  are  all  closed  from  Octo- 
ber to  May,  we're  going  through  to  Vancouver 
without  stops. 

February  fourteenth. 

The  grandeur  of  the  last  few  days  is  gone, 
also  the  snow.  Everything  is  green  and  many 
trees  and  much  water  form  an  attractive  land- 
scape. Although  at  times  we  were  as  much  as 
six  hours  late  we  made  all  up  but  half  an  hour, 
and  came  in  nearly  on  time. 

The  Hotel  Vancouver  is  not  specially  attract- 
ive and  rather  old  for  such  a  new  place,  but  still 
it  is  comfortable  and  better  than  the  train. 

The  only  thing  any  one  could  recommend  as 
worth  seeing  was  Stanley  Park.  After  five  days 
of  inaction  we  scorned  suggestions  of  driving 
and  set  out  nobly  on  foot. 

How  I  wish  you  could  have  been  with  us  this 
morning!  You  would  have  loved  that  walk. 
When  we  reached  the  park  our  longing  for  exer- 
cise was  satisfied,  but  such  a  small  place  as 
Vancouver  must  have  a  small  park  (we  thought), 
so  having  arrived  we  might  as  well  have  a  look 
in.  It  was  situated  on  the  edge  of  the  water, 
Vancouver  Bay.  We  crossed  a  long  bridge 
and  were  confronted  with  a  choice  of  direction. 
To  the  left  ran  a  bridle-path.     A  sign  pointing 

141 


ACROSS    THE    CONTINENT 

straight  ahead,  through  a  narrow  gateway, 
which  hmited  the  use  of  the  path  to  pedestrians 
and  was  rustic  enough  to  suit  the  scenery,  said 
"to  the  big  trees,"  and  another  to  the  right 
"to  the  buffalo."  We  chose  the  big  trees  and 
thought  perhaps  we'd  look  at  the  buffalo  on  the 
way  back. 

Apparently  there  is  no  winter  here  and  al- 
though saturated  from  the  recent  rains,  every- 
thing was  delightfully  green. 

Immense  pines,  as  straight  and  much  taller 
and  bigger  in  girth  than  telegraph  poles,  grew 
on  every  side.  Some  were  covered  with  moss 
and  small  ferns  grew  out  of  it  along  the  trunk 
and  many  of  the  branches.  Lovely  holly- 
bushes,  some  of  them  bearing  berries,  seemed  to 
emphasize  the  size  of  the  trees  and  underneath 
all  was  a  carpet  of  what  we  call  Boston  ferns. 
It  was  all  fascinating  and  whenever  we  realized 
we  were  growing  weary  and  thought  of  turning 
back,  another  sign,  "to  the  big  trees,"  would 
spur  us  on.  We  had  seen  any  number  of  trees 
all  bigger  than  any  we  had  ever  seen  before, 
but  if  there  was  one  biggest  we  felt  we  must  see 
it.  We  were  finally  rewarded  by  the  sight  of  a 
huge  one,  hollowed  out  to  all  appearances  by 
age  and  nature,  and  big  enough  to  admit  of  at 
least  a  dozen  people  standing  inside  at  once. 

[5] 


ACROSS    THE    CONTINENT 

We  were  pretty  tired  so  I  suggested  taking 
what  looked  like  a  short  cut  back  along  the 
water's  edge.  We  took  it  but — oh,  you  short 
cut!  It  was  at  least  twice  as  far  as  the  other 
way  and  by  the  time  we  finally  achieved  the 
entrance,  we  were  glad  to  drop  into  a  waiting 
trolley  and  be  hurried  back  to  the  hotel.  A  bath 
and  a  good  lunch  made  us  feel  better  than  new, 
but  as  Vancouver  does  not  look  very  interesting 
we  are  rather  glad  that  a  rainy  afternoon  gives 
us  an  excuse  to  be  lazy. 

Tomorrow  we  start  early  for  Victoria  by  boat 
and  after  a  couple  of  hours  there  will  continue 
to  Seattle,  where  we  are  due  at  9:30  in  the 
evening. 

February  sixteenth. 

Such  a  tedious  day  as  we  had  yesterday! 
I  should  never  advise  any  one  to  take  that  trip, 
but  the  weather  may  have  had  something  to 
do  with  it.  It  was  pouring  when  we  awoke 
and  I  was  rather  inclined  to  wait  over  a  day. 
Appeals  to  the  weather  prophets  elicited  the 
information  that  the  rain  might  continue  for  a 
week!  Not  having  a  week  to  spare  we  agreed 
to  brave  the  elements.  The  rain  had  stirred 
up  the  water  just  enough  to  make  us  wonder  for 
several  hours  if  we  were  going  to  be  seasick. 

[61 


ACROSS    THE    CONTINENT 

The  clouds  hung  low  so  that  nothing  could  be 
seen.  The  saloon  grew  stuffy  and  the  "prayer- 
benches"  in  front  of  all  the  chairs  were  much  too 
high.  At  Victoria  it  cleared  up  and  we  were 
glad  to  land  and  use  our  limbs  once  more.  At 
the  end  of  an  hour  we  had  seen  all  that  appeared 
worth  seeing,  the  rain  was  coming  down  heavily 
once  more  and  when  we  tried  to  find  shelter 
on  board  the  "Princess  Alice"  we  found  ourselves 
locked  out !  So  we  sat  on  the  porch  of  the  dock 
house  and  wished  for  cold  drinks  and  everything 
else  we  couldn't  have.  We  finally  reached 
Seattle,  an  hour  late,  but  thankful  to  be  there. 

The  New  Washington  is  as  good  as  any  of  our 
hotels  in  little  old  New  York  and  we  certainly 
appreciated  its  comforts. 

We  got  an  early  start  this  a.m.  and  while  M. 
went  down  to  pass  the  trunks  at  the  Custom 
House  (which  here  is  a  mere  formality),  we 
motored  for  two  hours  through  the  business 
section,  the  residence  quarter  and  miles  on  miles 
of  parks  and  boulevards. 

Seattle  is  growing  fast  and  will  be  a  fine  city 
when  completed.  Clouds  seemed  to  have  broken 
away  and  it  was  just  cool  enough  and  not  too 
cool  for  an  open  taxi. 

We  are  now  once  more  on  our  way,  this  time 
by  rail.  The  rain  is  pouring  down  again  and 
2  [7] 


ACROSS   THE    CONTINENT 

as  we're  told  that  it  rains  most  of  the  time  here 
from  the  first  of  November  to  some  time  in 
March,  it  is  easy  to  understand  why  most  trav- 
elers go  West  in  summer.  Fortunately  it  held 
off  long  enough  to  give  us  a  good  view  of  snow- 
covered  Mt.  Rainier.  We  expect  to  reach  Port- 
land at  5 :  30  this  afternoon  and  will  try  and  get 
accommodations  on  the  Shasta  Limited  tomorrow 
at  6:00  and  reach  San  Francisco  at  9:10  the 
next  night,  Sunday. 

February  nineteenth. 

If  this  country  ever  gets  dried  out  I  am  sure 
it  would  look  attractive,  but  the  rain  is  getting 
on  my  nerves.  Yesterday  everything  went 
wrong.  To  begin  with,  we  went  to  the  wrong 
hotel.  The  Carlton.  It  had  nice  bath-rooms 
but  that's  all  we  could  say  for  it.  The  rooms 
were  so  small  we  had  to  go  out  into  the  hall  to 
turn  around.  Most  of  the  people  looked  like 
members  of  a  second  rate  chorus  and  you  always 
felt,  if  you  passed  them  in  the  hall  or  saw  them 
enter  the  dining-room,  that  they  were  about  to 
"do  a  turn."     The  table  was  past  description. 

Nothing  was  to  be  had  on  the  "  Shasta,"  in  fact 
we  were  told  that  there  were  twenty  people  will- 
ing to  stand  up  all  night  if  only  they  might  be 
permitted    to    board    her — the    7:45    p.m.    had 

[8] 


ACROSS    THE    CONTINENT 

nothing  left  but  "uppers,"  but  if  we  would 
come  back  at  2 :  00  it  was  just  possible  we  might 
be  able  to  have  a  drawing-room  on  the  midnight 
(leaving  at  1:30  a.m.). 

Every  time  we  go  into  the  house  the  sun  comes 
out  and  we  no  sooner  go  out  than  the  rain  comes 
down! 

We  have  given  up  wishing  for  the  mackin- 
toshes and  umbrellas  in  the  trunk  in  San  Fran- 
cisco and  wander  around  in  the  wet  as  if  such 
things  had  never  been  invented.  We  decided  if 
we  could  not  do  anything  else  we  could  have 
shampoos,  so  we  looked  up  the  Harper-system 
representative,  a  Miss  Pickett,  who  proved  to 
be  quite  human,  promised  to  take  us  both  in 
the  afternoon,  told  us  where  we  could  get  a  good 
lunch  and  recommended  a  trolley-ride  with  a 
view,  to  finish  up  the  morning.  The  sun  was 
out  when  she  told  us,  but  by  the  time  we  reached 
the  place  where  the  view  ought  to  have  been, 
it  was  raining  as  never  before  and  there  was 
nothing  to  be  seen.  However,  it  killed  some 
time  and  the  lunch  quite  reminded  me  of  our 
escape  to  the  "Antlers"  from  the  "Accacia" 
at  Colorado  Springs — do  you  remember? 

Another  trip  to  the  Southern  Pacific  office 
revealed  the  fact  that  a  drawing-room  had  been 
given  up  on  the  7 :  45  and  now,  if  we  have  good 

[91 


ACROSS    THE    CONTINENT 

luck,  we  will  reach  San  Francisco  early  Monday 
morning.  We  sail  at  noon  next  day,  so  that  it 
doesn't  give  us  much  time,  but  it  will  have  to  do. 

February  twentieth. 
Ste.ajviship  Korea. 

The  trip  down  from  Portland  was  very  inter- 
esting, particularly  after  we  crossed  the  Cali- 
fornia border.  We  had  a  wonderful  view  of  Mt. 
Shasta  covered  with  snow,  14,  872  feet  high,  and 
the  Black  Crater,  9,000  feet  high,  close  by, 
made  a  splendid  foil. 

Many  of  the  fruit  orchards  were  in  blossom 
and  everything  looked  SpringJ^  It  was  noon 
by  the  time  we  reached  the  Oakland  ferry  so  we 
went  direct  to  the  St.  Francis  where  they  gave 
us  a  nice  suite  and  a  good  lunch. 

We  found  telegrams,  books  and  letters  waiting 
for  us  and  a  big  pile  more  of  the  latter  at  Cook's 
office.  As  we  had  not  had  any,  or  even  the  pos- 
sibility of  getting  any,  for  ten  days,  it  was  a  treat. 
We  did  a  little  shopping  and  after  walking  till 
we  were  tired  (which  didn't  take  long  with  the 
sudden  change  to  summer  weather)  we  rode  up 
hill  and  down  on  trolleys  and  finally  out  to  Gol- 
den Gate  Park,  arriving  just  in  time  for  a  glori- 
ous sunset. 

[10  1 


ACROSS    THE    CONTINENT 

We  wanted  to  see  a  "show"  in  the  evening, 
but  like  all  these  Western  cities  so  far,  there 
was  nothing  on  but  what  we  had  already  seen 
or  what  sounded  too  dull  to  be  preferred  to  bed. 

After  all,  the  latter  was  pretty  attractive  and 
there  were  many  letters  to  answer  so  we  did  not 
much  mind. 


11 


II 


THE  PACIFIC 

February  twenty-fifth. 
Steamship  Korea. 
WISH  that  you,  who  Hke  sea  voyages 
could  have  enjoyed  this  one.  There 
have  been  many  things  that  would 
have  interested  you,  specially  the 
people  who  are  "odd."  The  first  two  or  three 
days  were  cloudy  and  windy,  but  not  rough,  and 
now  the  sun  is  out  and  it  is  as  warm  as  mid- 
summer. 

The  days  are  uneventful.  Ash  Wednesday 
we  entirely  forgot  (good  Episcopalians?)  until 
night.  Next  morning  we  were  confronted  with 
"George's"  picture  and  many  flags,  when  we 
went  down  to  breakfast,  and  had  a  specially 
good  dinner  in  his  honor.  One  day  we  had  a 
fire-drill  and  last  night,  after  dark,  passed  our 
first  ship. 

This  morning  being  Sunday,  we  had  service, 
conducted  by  the  Purser.  Shades  of  my  lessons 
on  the  Prayer  Book!  What  cared  he  for  rub- 
rics.'^ Why  not  jump  around  as  the  spirit  sug- 
gests and  sit  down  for  prayers,  canticles,  Glorias 
and  Creeds?     Or  suppose  some  members  of  the 

[12] 


THE    PACIFIC 

congregation  do  prefer  time  and  tunes  of  their 
own  for  popular  hymns?  Our  Kttle  band  of 
missionaries,  comprising  two  ministers  (one 
with  wife  and  baby)  one  school-teacher,  one 
trained  nurse,  and  two  odd  females, — all  bound 
for  Korea,  did  not  approve  and  are  to  have  a 
service  of  their  own  on  deck  at  six  o'clock. 
It  was  the  nurse  who  came  nearest  to  breaking 
up  the  singing  so  we  feel  it  may  be  as  unique  as 
the  other  and  cannot  miss  it. 

There  are  several  Chinese  celebrities  on  board, 
among  them  a  bank  president  from  Hong  Kong, 
and  the  president  of  a  steamship  line.  They 
were  both  educated  in  the  United  States,  one  at 
Yale  and  the  other  at  Harvard,  and  wear 
European  dress,  but  their  wives  and  children, 
prancing  around  in  Oriental  splendor  and  layers 
of  gowns,  are  most  interesting. 

The  crew  and  servants  (excepting  the  steward- 
ess) are  all  Chinese  and  tempt  the  passengers 
most  successfully  with  a  variety  of  gambling 
games  on  the  "rear"  deck.  The  boat  is  spot- 
lessly clean  and  much  freer  from  odors  than  most 
trans-Atlantic  liners,  but  the  cabins  are  small 
and  the  beds  fit  like  straight- jackets.  We  have 
a  Philippino-string-orchestra  which  is  very  good, 
and  a  Welte-Mignon  on  which  the  second 
steward  conducts  concerts  of  his  own  once  or 

[13] 


THE    PACIFIC 

twice  a  day.  We  also  have  a  couple  of  singers — 
one  of  them  with  more  ambition  than  voice, — 
and  a  gentleman  flutist. 

A  curious  custom  on  the  boat,  which  I  sup- 
pose is  Chinese,  is  the  serving  of  appetizers, 
olives,  salt  fish,  and  the  like  on  bits  of  bread  and 
butter  on  deck  before  the  dressing  bugle  sounds, 
instead  of  the  usual  afternoon  tea,  which  can 
always  be  obtained  in  the  saloon. 

At  table  we  sit  next  the  Captain  (M.  having 
convinced  the  head  steward  that  we  are  the 
people)  and  on  his  other  side  is  a  pleasant  con- 
ventional spinster  who  plies  him  with  questions 
from  "How  many  knots  an  hour?"  and  "What 
day  will  we  get  in?"  to  "Should  I  ring  for  the 
stewardess  when  I  want  to  be  hooked  up  or  is 
the  cabin-boy  used  to  doing  it?"  She  and  her 
friends  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bear  claim  to  live  in  New 
York,  summer  in  Canada,  and  spend  the  winters 
in  travel.  Lest  any  one  should  fail  to  grasp 
that  fact,  Mrs.  B.  casually  mentions  that  the 
weather  reminds  her  of  Bermuda,  Chinese 
waiters  of  Arab  servants  on  the  Nile,  green- 
peppers  of  Key  West,  the  music  of  this  and  that, 
that  we  heard  in  London  or  Paris,  and  pine- 
apples of  the  winter  we  spent  in  Florida.  She 
was  funny  at  first,  but  finally  grew  annoying, 
so  now  I  beat  her  at  her  own  game  by  discovering 

[14] 


THE    PACIFIC 

quite  casually  all  the  places  I  have  been  to  and 
she  has  not.  Instead  of  hating  me,  she  pursues 
me,  and  I  regret  to  say  that  they  are  continuing 
the  trip  with  us  on  the  Shinyo  Maru  after  Hono- 
lulu. We  are  due  at  the  latter  port  at  daybreak 
tomorrow  and  are  now  having  midsummer 
weather  and  seeing  flying-fish  of  the  tropics. 


15 


11  !llilllllll!lllllllllll!ll  P 

1    I    1 

iil  llllllillllllllllilllllllllli  1 

III 

AN  AMERICAN  TERRITORY 

March  sixth. 

WANT  to  tell  you  something  of 
Honolulu,  but  hardly  know  where 
to  begin.  This  week  has  been  like 
a  dream  and  I  have  been  so  enjoy- 
ing the  present  every  minute  that  I  simply 
could  not  bring  myself  to  write  more  than  a  few 
Easter  post-cards.  Now  that  we  have  left  it 
I  no  longer  have  that  fear  of  "missing  some- 
thing" if  I  stop  to  write,  but  there  was  so  much 
there  that  was  different,  it  seems  impossible  to 
sum  up  my  impressions  in  one  letter. 

As  usual  there  were  unpleasant  features  con- 
nected with  landing,  such  as  being  waked  at 
dawn,  or  thereabouts,  and  then  kept  waiting 
for  our  breakfast  until  "inspection"  was  over. 
Of  course  the  doctor  was  late  and  then  exam- 
ined the  crew  and  steerage  first,  while  the  rest 
of  us  waited.  All  this  was  offset  by  the  fact 
that  being  still  in  the  U.  S.  A.  there  were  no 
customs  formalities  to  be  gone  through  with. 

We  spied  Sister  Anne  on  the  dock  long  before 
we   reached   it.     She   had   been   waiting   there 

[161 


HAWAIIAN  NATIVES 


7x 

[01 

i  i  1     ^^^i         I 

@ 

AN   AMERICAN    TERRITORY 

since  7.00  a.  m.,  poor  soul  (we  landed  at  9.00), 
but  was  so  glad  to  see  some  one  from  home 
after  her  winter  there  that  she  acted  as  though 
we  had  come  all  that  way  just  to  see  her,  and 
took  possession  of  us  accordingly.  We  invited 
her  to  dine  with  us  or  else  come  to  lunch 
next  day,  agreeing  to  telephone  which  as  soon 
as  we  had  made  our  plans  or  decided  whether 
or  no  we  would  go  across  to  the  volcano.  We 
then  piled  ourselves  and  our  belongings  into  a 
hack  and  proceeded  to  drive  out  to  Hotel 
Moana  on  Waikiki  Beach.  The  drive  out  was  a 
delight.  So  many  new  varieties  of  palms  and 
flowers  and  such  a  surprise  after  hearing  as  we 
had  so  often  that  there  were  no  flowers  in  Hono- 
lulu. We  afterwards  discovered  that  that  was 
merely  the  popular  way  of  saying  that  there 
were  no  roses  and  chrysanthemums,  everything 
else  abounded  and  there  were  many,  to  us,  new 
species. 

There  appears  to  be  a  kind  of  trust  in  hotels 
and  the  hotel-keepers  are  very  indifferent  and 
independent.  That  may  be  only  at  the  height 
of  the  season.  The  great  carnival  and  floral 
parade  takes  place  every  year  on  February  22nd 
and  as  this  was  only  the  26th  the  crowd  had  not 
had  time  to  thin  out  and  all  the  hotels  and  board- 
ing houses  were  full.     We  had  had  some  inti- 

[191 


AN   AMERICAN    TERRITORY 

mation  of  that  before  leaving  the  boat,  but  as 
I  had  written  for  rooms  a  month  before  leaving 
New  York,  we  were  much  surprised  to  be  told 
that  there  was  nothing  for  us  and  that  we  could 
consider  ourselves  very  fortunate  in  that  they 
had  that  morning  succeeded  in  securing  a  room 
for  us  at  The  Young,  in  town ! 

The  Moana  was  most  attractive,  with  a  lovely 
garden,  and  charmingly  located  on  the  edge  of 
the  water  and  within  sight  of  the  surf-riders' 
favorite  haunt,  so  we  hated  to  return  to  the 
town.  But  rumors  kept  reaching  us  of  the 
hard  luck  that  our  fellow  passengers  on  the 
Korea  were  experiencing  and  it  seemed  wise  to 
make  sure  of  what  we  could  have.  The  Young 
is  a  very  citified  hotel,  but  the  table  is  good 
and  there  is  a  pretty  palm-garden  on  the  roof. 
Incidentally  it  is  free  from  mosquitoes,  which 
the  other  is  not.  Our  one  room  proved  to  be 
a  suite  of  bath,  bedroom  and  parlor  in  which 
we  could  be  quite  comfortable  except  that  the 
former  occupants  were  still  in  possession  and 
remained  until  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
when  they  departed  on  the  Korea.  It  would 
not  have  mattered  so  much  had  we  not  come 
ashore  in  winter  clothes  and  found  ourselves  in 
the  midst  of  summer  weather.  Our  heavy  hats 
were    really  oppressive    and  to  know  that  we 

[201 


HAWAIIAN  RICE   FIELDS 


\B} 


0 


AN   AMERICAN    TERRITORY 

had  trunks  full  of  clothes  right  there  and  no 
place  to  change  in,  was  truly  aggravating.  We 
spent  most  of  the  day  trolley-riding,  occasion- 
ally stopping  at  the  "Fern"  on  Emma  Street 
kept  by  two  English  girls,  for  ice-cream  or 
soda-water  which  tasted  like  home  and  was 
most  refreshing. 

Our  pursuing  angel  was  not  bothered  by  a 
change  of  hotel.  She  ran  us  to  earth  before 
lunch  or  at  least  found  Marie  at  the  hotel  and 
left  word  that  she  would  be  back  again  directly 
when  she  took  us  for  a  beautiful  trolley  ride. 
She  also  dined  with  us  that  evening  and  enthu- 
siastically accepted  an  invitation  to  motor 
around  the  island  with  us  next  day. 

Although  the  roads  were  in  some  places  far 
from  good,  and  we  had  many  slight  showers, 
called  "liquid  sunshine,"  not  hard  enough  or  of 
sufficient  duration  to  do  much  damage,  it  was 
without  exception  the  most  beautiful  automobile 
ride  I  have  ever  taken  anywhere.  The  scenery 
was  as  varied  as  it  was  beautiful. 

We  stopped  for  a  moment  opposite  the  royal 
burying  ground  and  had  the  graves  of  cele- 
brated Hawaiian  kings  and  queens  pointed  out 
to  us,  then  on  up  to  Pali,  a  rocky  promontory 
so  high  and  so  exposed  to  the  winds  that  we 
could  hardly  keep  our  feet  when  we  got  out  to 
3  [231 


AN   AMERICAN   TERRITORY 

enjoy  the  view  and  could  barely  hear  each  other 
speak.  The  spot  is  one  of  historic  interest; 
the  Oahuan  army  was  there  driven  over  the 
cliff  to  instant  death  hundreds  of  feet  below  by 
King  Kamehameha,  as  a  tablet  in  the  rock 
assures  you,  and  the  view  is  beyond  description, 
very  extensive  and  with  such  variety  and  bril- 
liancy of  color  both  on  land  and  sea  that  if  I 
had  been  shown  a  painting  of  it  before  seeing 
the  original  I  know  I  should  have  thought  the 
artist  crazy. 

A  long  train  of  pack-mules,  with  tinkling 
bells,  had  to  be  gotten  out  of  our  way  with  much 
difficulty  as  we  resumed  our  ride  and  we  wound 
in  and  out  in  a  most  marvelous  manner,  the 
descent  being  much  more  rapid  than  the  ascent. 
Our  chauffeur  was  an  American,  born  and 
brought  up  on  the  island,  very  chatty  and  ami- 
able, ready  to  stop  for  snap-shots,  fruit,  or  flowers 
that  took  our  fancy  and  was  anxious  to  answer 
as  many  of  our  questions  as  was  possible.  He 
reminded  me  a  little  of  Buzaglo,  our  Spanish 
courier  whom  you  probably  remember,  and 
was  as  free  and  intimate  as  was  possible  without 
growing  fresh.  When  he  explained  to  me  vari- 
ous customs  that  the  Chinese  practised  among 
themselves  but  "would  not  think  of  in  the  case 
of   inviting   either   me   or   himself   to   dinner," 

[24] 


THE   WATER   BUFFALO 


[£] 


@1 


AN    AMERICAN    TERRITORY 

his  manner  was  as  naive  and  unconscious  as 
possible.  My  companions  were  much  amused 
and  a  trifle  shocked  at  his  occasional  profanity, 
but  he  meant  so  well  that  it  would  take  a  stony- 
hearted person  to  find  fault  with  him.  He  had 
had  many  interesting  experiences,  been  one  of 
the  guard  who  ran  up  the  American  flag  at  the 
time  of  the  revolution  on  the  island  and  had 
also  been  in  San  Francisco  at  the  time  of  the 
earthquake.  His  son  was  born  there  just  nine 
days  before  and  he  had  had  more  than  his  fill  of 
excitement  moving  his  wife  out  of  the  line  of 
the  fire. 

Soon  after  passing  Pali,  we  came  in  sight  of  the 
famous  waterfalls  coming  down  over  rocks  so 
high  in  air  that  the  wind  catches  the  water  and 
blows  it  up  in  clouds.  Then  there  were  water- 
bufl^alo  plowing  in  the  field,  sometimes  a  buffalo 
colt  running  along  behind;  rice-fields  completely 
under  water  and  coolies  standing  knee-deep 
planting  each  separate  stalk  in  a  hillock  by  itself 
in  neat  rows;  Japanese  women  washing  on  the 
edge  of  a  stream,  a  baby  tied  to  each  back; 
fields  of  banana  trees;  and  glorious  breakers, 
some  dashing  up  on  the  "barking  sands." 

Occasionally  we  passed  a  school  and  tried  to 
select  the  different  types  as  the  children  ran  out 
for  recess.     This  was  not  easy;  besides  native 

[271 


AN    AMERICAN    TERRITORY 

Hawaiians,  Chinese,  Japs,  Koreans,  Portuguese, 
Philippinos  and  Americans,  and  those  of  mixed 
ancestry.  The  people  all  inter-marrj^  (except 
Hawaiians  and  Japs  who  apparently  do  not  care 
for  each  other)  and  the  children  present  wonder- 
ful mixtures  of  distinguishing  features.  Quite 
the  cleverest  and  finest  are  the  children  of 
Chinese  and  Hawaiians  but  they  are  all  numerous 
enough  to  satisfy  even  Theodore  himself. 

We  stopped  so  often  and  "wasted"  so  much 
time  in  our  fear  of  missing  something,  that  we 
were  way  behind  our  schedule  and  when  we  had 
a  puncture  were  glad  of  the  excuse  to  stop  and 
eat  the  lunch  we  had  brought  with  us.  It  was 
about  three  o'clock  when  we  finally  reached 
Haleiwa  where  most  people  lunch.  We  only 
stopped  long  enough  for  lemonade  and  light 
refreshment — oil  and  water — for  the  machine; 
and  hurried  on.  The  afternoon's  ride  was  quite 
different.  We  left  the  sea,  wandered  through 
many  sugar  plantations,  some  very  large  ones 
with  mills  and  complete  equipment.  They  all 
had  miles  of  track  running  at  different  angles 
through  the  fields.  As  they  cut  the  cane  it  was 
piled  in  freight  cars  and  run  out  to  the  mill 
without  rehandling.  Then  there  were  pine- 
apple plantations,  cotton-groves  and  the  usual 
variety  of  palms — date,  cocoanut,  royal,  trav- 

[281 


AN   AMERICAN    TERRITORY 

eler,  bread-fruit,  papaias,  and  many  others 
whose  names  I  either  have  not  been  able  to  dis- 
cover or  have  forgotten.  We  returned  through 
Manalo  Park,  a  private  estate,  but  after  a  second 
puncture  were  too  late  to  see  anj'thing.  Pearl 
Harbor,  named  for  the  pearl  oysters  found 
there,  is  on  this  side  of  the  island  and  very 
lovely.  A  curious  custom  in  vogue  here  is  to 
fence  in  a  pond,  two  or  three  hundred  feet 
across,  on  the  water's  edge,  and  then  catch 
quantities  of  small  fish  and  put  them  into  the 
pond  to  grow  up  and  fatten. 

We  were  very  tired  when  we  got  back,  but 
had  enjoyed  ourselves  so  fully  that  Alice  declared 
she  would  like  to  repeat  it  every  day  of  our 
stay  and  I  feel  doubtful  about  my  ability  to  do 
it  justice  even  had  we  done  so.  The  trip  costs 
from  thirty-five  to  forty  dollars,  which  was  a 
good  reason  for  not  repeating  too  often.  How- 
ever, I  am  told  that  one  can  make  arrangements 
through  an  agency,  if  one  is  not  particular  as 
to  whom  one  goes  with,  for  six  dollars  a  head. 
The  trolley  rides  are  many  and  beautiful  and 
we  spent  a  part  of  each  day,  particularly  the 
warm  period,  riding  in  this  more  plebeian  fashion. 
The  trip  to  Manoa  is  one  of  the  most  charming. 
There  were  many  relatives  of  the  Jones 
family  here  who  did  much  for  our  enjoyment. 

[291 


AN    AMERICAN    TERRITORY 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Algernon  Binks,  who  live  in  Hono- 
lulu, called  for  us  one  evening  and  took  us  for  a 
delightful  motor  ride  in  the  moonlight,  which  I 
shall  always  remember.  A  lunch  at  the  "Sea- 
Side"  at  Waikiki  and  another  at  the  "  Colonial,  '* 
where  I  hope  to  come  and  live  some  day,  were 
also  very  pleasant. 

Then  there  was  an  excursion  through  the 
American  Can  Company's  factory,  and  the  pine- 
apple cannery  next  door.  These  were  most 
interesting. 

A  morning  in  the  Bishop  museum  where  we 
became  familiar  with  the  early  life  on  the  island ; 
the  way  the  natives  made  the  Tapa  or  Kapa 
from  the  bark  of  Maaloa,  Wauke  and  Poulu 
trees  which  served  for  dress  material,  tent  cover- 
ing, carpet,  table  cloths,  mosquito-netting,  or 
anything  that  they  required,  according  to 
its  strength,  size,  thickness  or  elaborateness  of 
design.  We  also  saw  the  various  wooden  pigs — 
long  pig  shaped  dishes  with  feet,  on  which  a 
whole  pig  was  placed  and  buried  in  the  ground 
while  cooking — kalibasch  for  eating  poi;  finger 
bowls,  with  partitions  made  of  scrapers  (poi 
sticks  to  the  fingers  badly),  and  many  other  im- 
plements made  of  Hau  and  Koa  wood.  The  poi 
used  to  be  made  by  hand  from  the  root  of  the 
Tora  in  a  big  earthen  bowl  with  a  stone  mallet, 

[301 


AN    AMERICAN    TERRITORY 

but  is  now  prepared  in  huge  factories  and  still 
eaten  by  the  natives  three  times  a  day. 

Another  day  we  went  out  to  the  aquarium 
which  is  well  worth  a  visit.  Not  large,  but 
containing  a  great  variety  of  native  fish  of  color 
and  design  past  belief.  Many  of  them  are  good 
to  eat  and  as  the  meats  are  mostly  poor  (except 
pork,  which  I  never  found  more  delicious)  we 
practically  lived  on  fish  and  fruits.  The  latter 
are  endless.  Strawberry  bananas  and  ice-cream 
bananas,  besides  the  usual  varieties  which  are 
particularly  good:  pomegranates;  water-lemons, 
which  were  strange  and  not  bad;  guavas;  papaos, 
which  we  did  not  care  for;  besides  oranges,  figs, 
tangerines  and  many  other  fruits  that  we  have 
at  home.  Pine-apple  juice  is  iced  and  served 
as  a  drink,  which  was  new  to  me  and  very  re- 
freshing in  that  hot  climate. 

Another  afternoon  we  walked  up  to  the  top 
of  the  Punch  Bowl,  the  crater  of  an  extinct 
volcano,  from  which  there  is  an  admirable  view. 
We  made  the  ascent  by  means  of  a  zig-zag  path 
up  the  side,  but  coming  back  thought  we  would 
be  funny  and  try  the  steep  trail  down  the  face 
of  the  rock.  We  were  lame  for  two  days  after- 
wards. 

We  spent  one  whole  day  waiting  for  the  Man- 
churia with  Agnes  M.  on  board.    She  came  ashore 

[31] 


AN   AMERICAN   TERRITORY 

and  dined  and  spent  the  night  with  us  and  we 
had  such  a  good  visit  that  it  was  well  worth 
the  wait. 

Sunday  we  attended  an  uninteresting  service 
in  St.  Andrews  Cathedral  (not  yet  completed) 
and  listened  to  a  poor  sermon  by  one  of  the 
canons. 

I  cannot  close  without  a  mention  of  the  Bou- 
gainvillea  vines  which  are  of  two  beautiful  colors, 
red  and  purple,  and  grow  to  enormous  size, 
some  large  enough  to  bury  three  whole  trees. 
Hibiscus  is  so  easy  to  cultivate  that  it  is  used  as 
a  hedge  and  flowers  profusely.  Poinsettia  and 
Night-blooming-cirius  are  so  plentiful  as  to  be 
a  feature.  The  Royal  Poinciana  were  just 
starting  to  flower. 

Two  things  are  left  for  next  trip — the  excur- 
sion, 15  hours  each  way  in  a  boat,  to  the  famous 
volcano  Kilanea  on  the  island  of  Hawaii,  and 
learning  to  ride  a  surf -board. 


32 


IV 


ON  TO  JAPAN 

March  eleventh. 
S.  S.  Shinyo  Maru,  Toyo  Kisen  Katsha. 
HERE  is  a  pretty  custom  in  vogue  in 
Honolulu  that  I  have  never  seen 
practised  elsewhere,  of  presenting 
one's  departing  friends  with  leis  or 
long  garlands,  sometimes  strings  of  beads  or 
shells,  but  much  more  usually  made  of  heads  or 
petals  of  flowers.  Men  as  well  as  women  receive 
and  wear  them  either  around  the  neck  or  hat 
— usually  both.  To  see  a  big,  dignified  Ameri- 
can trying  to  appear  natural  with  about  a  dozen 
leis  around  his  neck  is  a  rare  treat.  Every  one 
we  knew  in  Honolulu  was  down  to  see  us  off  with 
candy  or  leis  so  we  were  "right  in  it"  if  we  were 
many  thousand  miles  from  home.  Some  cele- 
brated Chinese  and  Japanese  were  on  board  and 
all  their  compatriots  were  down  with  flowers  and 
flags  to  wave  them  God-speed  and  the  band 
played  "Aloha"  as  we  left  the  dock.  Truly  an 
experience  to  remember. 

This  boat  is  much  bigger  and  newer  than  the 
Korea,  in  fact  this   is  only  her  fourth  voyage. 

[33] 


ON    TO    JAPAN 

Our  stateroom,  on  the  main  deck,  is  fully  three 
times  as  big  as  the  one  we  had  between  San 
Francisco  and  Honolulu  and  the  beds  and  other 
furnishings  much  more  comfortable.  We  were 
so  delighted  with  the  change  that  we  thought  of 
trying  to  come  home  on  her,  but  it  took  very  few 
days  to  change  that.  The  table  is  wretched  and 
the  service  not  to  be  compared  with  the  Korea. 
A  good  many  of  the  passengers  on  the  Korea 
came  aboard  with  us  and  we  all  felt  like  old 
friends.  I  do  not  know  if  they  improve  on  closer 
acquaintance  or  by  comparison  with  those 
already  on  board,  but  we  certainly  like  them 
better.  The  crew,  cabin  boys  and  most  of  the 
oflBcers  are  Japanese  and  not  to  be  compared 
with  the  Chinese  as  servants.  The  Captain  is 
English,  very  anxious  to  be  social  and  do  and 
say  the  right  thing,  though  nervous  in  manner. 
He  goes  the  rounds  among  the  passengers  fre- 
quently, stopping  for  a  few  words  with  each 
group.  Always  begins,  "very  nice  weather 
we're  having,  yes,  yes,  quite  delightful" — unless 
it  happens  to  be  raining,  in  which  case  he  varies 
it  with  "quite  a  bit  of  wet  weather,  but  then  we 
can't  expect  it  to  be  fine  all  the  time," — and  then 
he  goes  on  to  refer  to  the  deck  sports,  says  how 
much  he  thinks  they  help  in  making  the  time 
pass  pleasantlj^  and  asks  how  one  is  progressing 

[34  1 


ON   TO   JAPAN 

in  the  shuffle-board  tournament,  no  matter 
how  many  times  one  happens  to  have  explained 
to  him  that  one  does  not  play !  Next  a  pleasant 
reference  to  the  state  of  your  health  and  a  hope 
that  you  are  coming  down  to  "Tiff en," — as  a 
matter  of  fact  all  but  two  or  three  come  down  to 
every  meal,  but  what  difference  does  that  make? 
The  Purser  and  Doctor  are  both  American. 
The  former  the  coy,  would-be-funny  variety 
and  quite  impossible  though  unique,  the  latter 
very  young,  on  his  first  trip  with  this  ship, 
but  gentlemanly  and  agreeable. 

Never  have  I  been  on  a  ship  where  there  was 
such  a  constant  and  violent  effort  made  to 
entertain  the  passengers.  I  think  the  Captain 
is  largely  responsible.  The  first  afternoon  he 
invited  all  the  ladies  to  the  upper  forward  deck 
(reserved  for  the  officers)  for  tea,  while  the  men 
played  base-ball.  Next  day,  Thursday  (we 
sailed  Tuesday)  the  whole  afternoon  was  given 
up  to  deck-sports,  races  and  the  like,  by  the 
crew,  with  a  dance  in  the  evening.  Friday 
afternoon,  deck  sports  by  passengers,  and  in  the 
evening  a  moving  picture  show.  There  was 
not  any  Saturday  because  we  crossed  the  180th 
parallel  and  had  to  knock  off  a  day.  The  Cap- 
tain on  the  Korea  explained  to  us  that  it  was 
the  only  place  where  we  could  go  to  sleep  per- 

[35] 


ON   TO   JAPAN 

fectly  sober  Friday  night  and  wake  up  Sunday 
morning.  We  had  a  nice  service  Sunday  a.m. 
conducted  by  an  American  clergyman  who  had 
Hved  sixteen  years  in  Japan — I  think  he  was 
born  there — which  accounted  for  his  pecuhar 
mannerisms.  The  only  other  diversion  for  Sun- 
day was  a  newspaper  at  every  one's  place  at  the 
table — consisting  of  about  ten  news  items,  ac- 
quired by  wireless,  and  the  rest  Japanese 
advertisements.  Mondaj^  afternoon  there  was 
a  ladies'  base-ball  game,  very  diverting,  and  in 
the  evening  the  inevitable  concert,  with  some 
unusual  and  amusing  features;  oddest  of  all, 
no  collection. 

Tuesday  was  too  wet  for  entertainments,  but 
Wednesday  afternoon  there  was  a  base-ball 
game  between  ladies  and  the  men  playing  left 
handed,  and  in  the  evening  a  prestidigitator. 
The  Captain  always  opens  these  entertainments 
with  "Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I'm  sure  that 
before  starting  our  entertainment  you'll  be  glad 
to  hear  that  the  barometer  is  rising,  the  stars 
are  out  and  that  we  are  likely  to  have  a  fine 
day  tomorrow."  He  then  tells  a  poor  story  or 
makes  a  few  "funny"  remarks  and  the  show 
is  open.  There  is  a  shuffle-board  tournament 
as  a  continuous  performance  to  fill  in  the  chinks. 

Just  now  there  is  a  pretty  authentic  rumor 
[36] 


ON    TO   JAPAN 

that  as  a  result  of  the  good  weather,  calm  seas 
and  favorable  winds  we  have  been  blessed  with, 
we  are  likely  to  land  late  tomorrow,  Friday- 
afternoon,  instead  of  Saturday,  when  we  are  due. 
Never  has  that  happened  to  me  before  and  I 
can  hardly  believe  it  will  come  true,  but  then  I 
could  not  have  believed  when  we  started  that 
nine  days  could  pass  so  quickly  and  pleasantly. 


37] 


V 

YOKOHAINIA 

Sunday,  St.  Patrick's  Day. 
Yokohama. 
E  did  land  on  the  fifteenth,  but  late  in 
the  evening.  The  last  day  was  bit- 
ter cold,  rainy  and  rough,  and  we 
were  glad  enough  to  get  ashore. 
These  boats  usually  anchor  in  the  harbor  and  send 
passengers  ashore  in  small  boats  to  avoid  dock 
charges,  but  owing  to  the  quantity  of  freight  to  be 
landed  here  and  at  Kobe,  and  the  fact  that  the 
mail  contract  necessitates  paying  a  heavy  fine  if 
the  boats  leave  behind  schedule  time,  the  Captain 
received  orders  to  make  haste  and  proceed  at 
once  to  the  dock.  It  was  a  fascinating  sight 
to  watch  the  jabbering  coolies  make  us  fast. 
They  looked  like  gnomes,  with  their  mushroom 
hats,  blue  shirts  something  like  a  French  stu- 
dent's blouse  only  covered  with  white  hiero- 
glyphics, skin  tight  trousers  and  sandal-covered 
feet.  Bright  paper  lanterns  flitted  about  from 
group  to  group  and  the  picturesqueness  of  the 
scene  more  than  made  up  for  the  fact  that  their 
methods  were  a  little  slower  than  ours  at  home. 

[38] 


YOKOHAMA 

There  was  nothing  slow  about  the  way  we 
were  whisked  off  the  minute  we  had  stepped 
into  'rikshas.  All  was  so  dark  and  still,  just 
the  patter-patter  of  our  two-footed  horses' 
feet,  their  "hai"  as  something  got  in  their  way 
and  an  occasional  tinkle,  like  a  bicycle  bell, 
when  the  need  was  urgent.  All  the  houses 
seemed  closed,  and  no  one  about  except  our 
fellow-passengers,  hurrying  in  various  directions 
so  rapidly  that  friends  lost  sight  of  each  other 
and  parties  became  separated.  We  were  ex- 
pected at  the  Oriental  Palace,  where  we  finally 
drew  up,  and  were  well  taken  care  of.  Two 
double  connecting  rooms,  with  bath,  for  twenty- 
five  yen  daily,  maid  four  yen.  The  proprietors 
are  English  and  French  and  the  table  and  service 
(the  latter  limited  conversationally)  as  good  as 
any  hotel  in  France.  Evian  water  seemed  like 
a  long  lost  brother  and  worth  its  weight  in  gold, 
which  it  nearly  cost — one  yen  (fifty  cents)  a  bottle. 
The  Japanese  line  carries  only  charged  waters, 
but  Pacific  Mail  Steamers  have  still  Poland. 

The  cold  wet  weather  is  a  disappointment, 
but  nothing  can  really  mar  the  charm. 

Yokohama  has  become  very  modern  and  much 

more  Europeanized  than  I  expect  to  find  the 

other  cities,  and  there  is  not  much  to  be  done 

in  the  way  of  sight-seeing.     Yesterday  morn- 

4  [39] 


YOKOHAMA 

ing  our  first  thought  was  to  go  to  Cook's  for 
letters  and  were  disappointed  that  there  were  so 
few — it  is  hard  to  remember  that  it  takes  them 
nearly  as  long  as  it  did  us  to  get  here. 

We  then  took  'rikshas,  rode  around  the  town 
through  the  Benten  Dori,  the  best  shopping 
street,  down  Theater  Street  and  back  another 
way.  By  then  we  wanted  to  try  our  feet  and 
visited  all  the  tailor  and  dressmaking  shops  in 
search  of  wonderful  embroideries  but  were 
disappointed. 

In  the  afternoon  it  looked  less  showery  so  we 
rode  out  to  some  Shinto  shrines  behind  the  rail- 
road station  where  on  a  clear  day  is  to  be  ob- 
tained the  best  view  of  Fugi  and  the  town. 
Our  coolies  smilingly  deposited  us  at  the  foot 
of  the  hundred  or  more  steps  leading  up  to  the 
shrines  and  then  accompanied  us  up  as  guides. 
Part  way  up  as  we  stopped  for  breath  was  a  tea 
house  and  a  pretty  geisha  girl  invited  us  in. 
Among  the  shrines  themselves  was  a  large  picnic 
party,  children  from  a  school  in  Tokyo.  Their 
costumes  made  them  look  like  so  many  bright 
plumed  birds  and  their  happy  shouts  proved  that 
their  play -ground  was  not  exercising  a  depress- 
ing influence.  The  "sights"  of  Yokohama  (ex- 
cept outside  excursions  for  which  the  weather 
was  not  propitious)  being  exhaused,  we  wandered 

[40] 


YOKOHAMA 

afoot  through  some  of  the  back  streets  and  had 
a  most  interesting  time.  Here  the  shops  and 
trades  were  thoroughly  native,  carried  on  for 
natives,  and  the  atmosphere  was  very  pleasing 
and  neither  smelly  nor  dirty. 

This  A.M.  we  went  to  the  Anglican  church, 
very  like  most  English  churches  on  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe,  heard  a  sermon  that  might  have 
been  preached  by  one  of  our  ex-East  side  curates, 
and  came  home  in  a  downpour  of  rain  which  has 
kept  up  ever  since.  The  click-click  of  passing 
pedestrians  is  constant — the  deeper  the  mud, 
the  higher  heeled  the  getas  apparently — and  we 
find  much  amusement  in  the  sight  of  hundreds 
of  oil-paper  umbrellas  as  protection  against  rain. 
The  day  after  a  rain-storm  the  streets  are  always 
lined  with  these  opened  out  to  dry. 

From  our  windows  we  have  watched  many 
perilous  trips  to  and  from  large  boats  in  sampans, 
and  finally,  with  no  regrets,  saw  the  Shinyo 
Maru  steam  slowly  out  in  a  dense  fog.  We  leave 
tomorrow  morning  at  9 :  05  by  rail  for  Kobe, 
at  the  warmer  end  of  the  island,  and  are  due  to 
arrive  there  at  9 :  20  p.m.  In  that  way  we  are 
saved  an  uncomfortable  thirty-six  hours  and 
really  arrive  sooner.  We  long  for  warm  weather 
and  cherry  blossoms. 

[411 


YOKOHAMA 

March  twentieth. 

A  glorious  sunshiny  morning  was  a  gratifying 
sight  and  the  long  'riksha  ride  to  the  far  end 
of  town  and  the  other  station  was  full  of  novelty 
and  interest.  Some  of  the  signs  are  rather 
unique,  as:  "Ladies'  shampooing,  hair-cutting 
and  shaving!"     "Passengers  keep  to  your  left!" 

The  one  first  class  car  was  so  full,  and  con- 
tained so  many  children  at  both  ends,  that  we 
promptly  took  possession  of  the  centre  compart- 
ment which  was  unoccupied,  only  to  be  told 
that  it  was  not  permitted  for  any  one  but  the 
Empress  or  some  member  of  her  family  to  ride 
in  it,  but  just  carried  along  "in  case" — When  we 
insisted  they  told  us  that  a  Japanese  lady  of 
high  rank  had  already  asked  and  been  refused 
and  that  it  cost  six  times  the  regular  first  class 
fare  (11  yen  20  sen)  per  person!  We  got  out. 
The  two  ends  are  about  as  long  each  as  one  of 
our  old-fashioned  trolley  cars,  seats  facing,  and 
about  room  enough  for  three  people  between 
each  set  of  arms,  nine  on  a  side.  It  did  not  seem 
so  bad  when  we  got  settled,  as  all  but  ourselves 
and  a  couple  of  Englishmen  sat  on  their  feet 
and  the  children  kept  quiet  and  "stayed  put." 
There  was  a  very  good  dining  car  on,  which  served 
lunch  at  11:30  and  dinner  at  5:00,  but  the 
natives  mostly  eat  in  the  car — and  all  the  time. 

[42  1 


EL 


DINING    CAR. 
DINNER  SS  READY. 

CME ALS  A  LA  CARTE, ) 


s 


r 


n 


tt 


J 


* 


DINING  CAR  MENU 


YOKOHAMA 

One  or  another  would  send  the  train-boy  out  for  a 
glass-towel  full  of  manderins,  a  teapot,  or 
pair  of  lunch  boxes  at  nearly  every  station. 
A  cup  comes  with  the  teapot,  both  of  which 
you  may  keep  or  throw  away  when  you  get 
through.  Tea  and  all,  it  costs  3  sen  (a  cent  and 
a  half).  One  of  the  lunch  boxes  contains  rice, 
cooked  without  salt,  the  other  everything, 
including  cooked  and  raw  fish,  seaweed  and  nuts. 
Women  and  men  smoked  continuously  when  not 
eating,  their  tiny  pipes  containing  one  pinch  of 
tobacco,  making  a  chorus  of  rat-tap-taps,  as 
they  were  emptied  and  refilled. 

The  road  winds  in  and  out  through  thousands 
of  tiny  gardens  and  seemingly  toy  villages  and 
rice-fields;  then  suddenly  flashes  out  to  the 
water's  edge,  the  latter  sparkling  and  jumping  in 
the  sunlight,  back  again  through  pink  blossomed 
peach  orchards,  and  rice  fields,  with  their  irri- 
gation ditches  and  water-wheels  and  picturesque 
coolies,  and  back  of  all  on  both  sides,  stunning 
mountains  with  red  soil  set  off  by  tea  bushes 
and  camphor  and  monkey  trees,  here  in  dark 
shadow  under  fleecy  clouds,  again  bright  in 
high  light  under  a  rift.  Toward  sundown 
it  grew  colder  and  we  were  shocked  by  sight  of  a 
snow  storm. 

Soon  after  nine,  very  tired  and  *'full  up"  of 
[431 


YOKOHAMA 

new  sensations,  we  reached  the  Sannomiya  sta- 
tion which  is  nearer  the  foreign  settlement  than 
Kobe  proper.  The  Tor  is  very  new,  has  a  bath- 
room with  every  bedroom,  but  a  rather  poor 
table.  It  is  beautifully  located  at  the  top  of  a 
long  hill  and  is  making  a  wonderful  Japanese 
garden.  The  hill  is  no  disadvantage  because 
the  distances  in  Kobe  are  not  great  and  'rikshas 
cheap — a  few  sen  an  hour  or  one  yen,  fifty  sen 
a  day — seventy -five  cents  in  our  money.  Single 
rooms  with  bath  each,  were  eight  yen  a  day, 
maid  six  yen. 


44 


TEMPLE  IN  PREPARATION  FOR  A  "MATSURI" 


8  ®  ^  ,,l 


^ 


^ 


iC, 


m 


I        *«  ^         Ji!  A  ini     I 


THEATER  BILL  AND  RETURN  CHECK 


VI 

THE  INLAND   SEA 

EXT  morning  we  were  fortunate 
enough  to  find  preparations  for  a 
"matsuri,"  with  flags  and  other 
brilliant  decorations,  at  the  Nanko 
Temple —  Shinto  in  memory  of  Kusunoki  Mosas- 
hige,  hero  of  the  war  of  Chrysanthemums.  We 
then  went  on  to  the  Shinkoji  Temple  with  its  co- 
lossal bronze  Buddha — very  interesting  inside 
and  out.  The  visitor  is  allowed  to  go  in  him  with- 
out removing  shoes.  Both  of  these  are  in  Hiogo, 
but  Hiogo  and  Kobe  are  so  welded  together  as  to 
be  really  one  town.  Returning  we  stopped  at  the 
beautiful  Numobiki  Falls  which  come  down  a 
dark  ravine,  but  the  visitor  is  pestered  to  death 
by  sellers  and  manufacturers  of  Damascine,  sat- 
suma,  cloisonne  and  bamboo,  who  fall  upon  him 
in  the  street  like  so  many  raving  wolves  and, 
reminding  him  of  Niagara,  cause  him  to  wonder 
if  all  falls  have  the  same  effect  on  tradesmen. 

Kobe,  like  most  Japanese  towns,  has  its 
Theater  Street,  and  in  the  afternoon  we  had 
our  first  experience  in  attending  the  play. 

[471 


THE  INLAND  SEA 

Lest  we  miss  something  we  took  a  guide, 
having  to  pay  him  for  all  day  four  yen  or  two 
dollars.  His  English  was  so  poor  as  to  make  it 
an  effort  to  understand  him  and  while  he  tried 
to  be  as  unobjectionable  as  possible,  a  leopard 
cannot  change  his  spots.  We  were  specially 
privileged  and  not  obliged  to  remove  our  shoes, 
but  they  were  well  wiped  off  before  we  were 
allowed  to  enter.  Then  up  a  narrow  stairway 
and  into  a  box,  literally,  about  three  feet  square, 
with  a  one  foot  partition  all  around.  They 
brought  us  chairs,  but  we  found  the  floor  much 
more  comfortable — also,  we  liked  doing  the 
proper  thing.  The  ushers  supplied  us  with 
cushions,  and  hibachi,  which  was  very  acceptable 
that  cold  afternoon,  and  from  time  to  time  fresh 
relays  of  tea.  Men  and  women  alike  all  remove 
shoes,  but  keep  on  their  hats  if  they  prefer,  here 
and  also  in  church. 

As  with  us,  the  second  best  places  are  down 
stairs  in  front  of  the  stage,  but  divided  also  into 
boxes,  smaller  than  those  in  the  "diamond 
horseshoe."  These  partitions  reminded  me  of 
the  divisions  in  an  egg  box,  some  are  two  or 
three  inches  wide  and  serve  as  entrances  and 
exits  for  the  audience  as  well  as  the  attendants. 

Performances  begin  at  two  or  three  in  the 
afternoon    and   continue   till    eleven    at    night, 

[48] 


NUMOBIKI  FALLS,  KOBE 


[a] 


0 


THE  INLAND  SEA 

so  many  meals  must  be  partaken  of.  Poorer 
people  bring  theirs  with  them. 

Leaving  our  trunks  behind  at  the  hotel,  to  be 
sent  to  the  station  to  meet  us  as  we  pass  through 
Kobe  on  our  way  back  to  Kyoto,  in  response  to 
a  telegram — which,  by  the  way,  worked  very 
satisfactorily — we  took  a  9 :  30  a.  m.  train  from 
Sannomiya  to  Onomichi,  arriving  at  the  latter 
place  about  4 :  30  after  a  comfortable  and  ex- 
tremely pretty  ride.  As  the  natives  all  "squat" 
on  the  seats,  or  lie  if  there  is  room,  they  are 
made  unusually  wide  and  do  not  fit  our  European 
backs  and  positions.  Therefore  a  ride  of  a  few 
hours  is  to  be  preferred  to  all  day  trips.  Here 
we  had  our  first  experience  of  eating  native 
lunch,  with  chop-sticks,  enjoyed  it,  were  much 
impressed  with  our  own  dexterity,  and  surprised 
to  find  the  meal  so  tasty  and  satisfying.  We 
have  been  unable  to  find  Evian,  or  any  other 
uncharged  water  since  leaving  Yokohama,  but 
find  that  we  can  drink  tan  san  and  are  learning 
not  to  mind  it.  That  can  be  obtained  every- 
where. 

Hamakichi's  Hotel  is  thoroughly  Japanese, 
but  we  were  made  very  comfortable  and  were 
convulsed  with  laughter  most  of  the  time  that 
we  were  alone  and  dared  indulge  in  mirth.  We 
were  provided  with  the   usual   "cotton-bags" 

[511 


THE  INLAND  SEA 

to  tie  over  our  shoes  instead  of  having  to  remove 
them, — which  was  fortunate  as  the  weather  con- 
tinued cold — then  led  up  a  steep  staircase  of 
polished  wood,  through  a  big  square  room 
(apparently  a  banqueting  hall  for  state  occa- 
sions), across  a  balcony,  and  through  a  sliding 
panel  into  a  charming  room,  which  could  be 
open  on  two  sides  if  so  desired.  It  was  almost 
hanging  over  the  Inland  Sea,  was  carpeted  with 
beautiful  matting  and  absolutely  devoid  of 
furniture  save  for  the  inevitable  kakemono 
(hanging  scroll)  in  the  tokonoma  or  alcove, 
one  small  table  six  inches  from  the  ground  and 
in  one  corner  a  beautiful  chest  of  baby-drawers 
with  a  glass  on  top — intended  as  a  dressing 
table,  but  looking  more  like  a  cabinet.  Half  a 
dozen  pretty,  chattering  and  giggly  maidens 
quickly  supplied  us  with  cushions  on  which  to 
sit  and  things  resembling  padded  sleeve  boards 
to  lounge  against.  We  were  offered  European 
chairs — nailed  to  flat  pieces  of  wood  to  protect 
the  floors — but  scorned  them  as  being  out  of 
keeping  and  spoiling  the  effect. 

Next  we  were  each  presented  with  a  Hibachi 
or  portable  charcoal  fire  and  finally  tea  and  cake. 

As  the  sun  was  setting  rapidly  we  feared  to 
lose  our  opportunity  for  some  picturesque  snap- 
shots and  hurried  out  to  walk.     Had  we  been 

[521 


THE  INLAND  SEA 

the  first  Europeans  on  the  island  or  the  fore- 
runners of  a  travehng  circus  we  could  not  have 
created  more  excitement.  Children  everywhere 
stared,  exclaimed,  called  their  friends  and  then 
followed  till  we  had  a  procession  quite  equal  to 
the  Pied  Piper's,  only  ours  was  joined  by  grown 
men  and  women  as  well.  In  and  out  through 
back  streets  and  alleyways,  each  more  charming 
than  the  last,  till  we  finally  reached  the  foot  of 
the  long  flight  of  stone  steps  leading  to  the 
series  of  Temples.  Here  our  admirers  fell  away 
but  when  near  the  top,  we  wandered  into  some 
gardens  and  finally  stumbled  on  a  pretty  tea 
house,  we  quickly  became  the  center  of  a 
smaller,  but  equally  interested  group.  Back  in 
the  town  we  acquired  a  larger  escort  than 
before  and  when  the  Dynamite  Bomb  began 
winking  at  the  children  they  grew  so  excited 
that  we  feared  every  moment  we  might  be  con- 
fronted with  the  fire  department  and  were  glad 
to  take  refuge  in  the  hotel  only  to  find  them 
grouped  under  our  windows  and  so  noisy  in  their 
curiosity  that  we  finally  drew  all  the  screens  and 
my  press  agent  showed  herself  in  the  window  of 
another  room  as  a  counter  attraction.  She 
proved  uninteresting  and  they  quickly  dispersed. 
We  had  a  delicious  dinner  of  fried  fish,  roast 
chicken,  boiled  potatoes  and  toast  and  fruit,  all 

[531 


THE  INLAND  SEA 

perfectly  cooked.  Coffee  is  the  one  weak  spot, 
but  we  always  carry  a  small  can  of  "George 
Washington,"  and  boiling  water  appears  imme- 
diately when  one  says  "o-yu." 

When  we  expressed  a  desire  for  rest,  one  of  the 
wall  screens  was  thrust  aside  and  disclosed  a 
large  closet  divided  into  shelves,  stacked  high 
with  "futons"  or  very  thick  quilts,  and  more 
of  the  flat  cushions  we  were  sitting  on.  Spot- 
lessly clean,  unhemmed  sheets  appeared  from 
nowhere  and  very  soon  there  was  a  warm,  soft 
bed  spread  out  on  the  floor  in  two  corners  of 
the  room  and  another  next  door  for  the  "Yama 
san" — though  why  she  could  not  share  our 
room  with  us  is  still  a  mystery  to  them! 

We  ordered  our  breakfast  for  6 :  30  next  morn- 
ing as  our  boat,  one  of  the  Japanese  mail  steam- 
ers, was  to  leave  at  8 :  00  and  we  wanted  another 
walk  through  the  town  before  starting.  It  was 
well  we  did  for  the  maid  who  had  taken  our 
orders  overslept  and  the  others  refused  to  wake 
her.  We  got  up  ourselves  at  6 :  00  performed  a 
hurried  toilet  on  the  front  porch  behind  a 
bamboo  awning,  and  by  dint  of  much  conversa- 
tion and  argument  finally  attained  to  an  appe- 
tizing breakfast  about  7:30!  Our  whole  bill  for 
the  night  and  three  meals  for  three  people  was 
eleven  yen  or  five  dollars  and  a  half,  and  a 

[54] 


ONOMICHI  FROM  THE  BOAT 


THE  INLAND  SEA 

Japanese  would  probably  have  paid  about  one 
third  that  amount.  The  boat-landing  was  only 
a  few  minutes  walk  from  the  hotel,  so  we  piled 
our  bags  on  a  hand-car — or  rather  it  was  done 
for  us — and  filed  along  in  procession,  once  more 
putting  a  stop  to  all  the  regular  business  of  the 
day. 

The  Inland  Sea  is  very  beautiful  as  are  also 
the  surrounding  hills  and  the  many  islands,  but 
we  found  our  boat  much  too  popular  with 
second  and  third  class  passengers,  the  former 
sharing  all  the  privileges  accorded  first  class 
except  that  our  luggage  was  placed  in  a  cabin 
(we  would  have  shared  the  same  fate  if  we  had 
submitted)  and  a  blanket  was  spread  for  us  on 
the  hard  wooden  bench.  High  winds  and  a 
constant  shower  of  soot  tried  our  tempers  and 
endurance  and  many  stops  to  load  or  unload 
freight  and  pilgrims  from  bobbing  sampans  were 
at  first  amusing,  but  soon  became  tedious.  A 
genuine  Japanese  lunch,  served  to  us  without 
extra  charge  in  the  officers'  saloon,  was  a  pleasing 
diversion,  and  we  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  im- 
pression made  on  the  cabin-boy  who  served  us. 
He  stopped  to  enjoy  our  manipulation  of  the 
chop-sticks  but  stayed  to  admire. 

It  was  with  a  feeling  of  much  relief  and  a 
certainty   of  having   obtained  more   than   our 

[571 


THE  INLAND  SEA 

money's  worth  (2  yen  20  sen  each)  that  we 
finally  stumbled  down  the  ladder  into  a  waiting 
sampan  at  six  o'clock  (the  high  winds  had 
caused  about  an  hour's  delay)  and  the  tide 
being  low  we  were  rowed  what  seemed  to  us 
miles  along  the  shore  before  we  finally  made  a 
landing  at  the  Miyajima  Hotel's  new  dock. 
We  had  intended  going  to  the  "Maples,"  a 
native  hotel  back  of  the  Temple  and  highly 
recommended  by  friends,  but  the  boat  men 
either  didn't  understand  us  or  didn't  want  to. 
We  stopped  at  the  Miyajima  to  ask  our  way, 
but  the  garden  looked  so  pretty  in  the  half 
light  pouring  from  the  windows  of  the  dining- 
room,  and  the  idea  of  stumbling  along  in  the 
dark  in  search  of  rest  and  food  was  so  depress- 
ing that  we  decided  that  this  was  an  instance 
of  the  bird  in  the  hand  being  worth  two  in  the 
bush,  and  gave  up  the  chase. 

The  Miyajima  is  under  the  same  management 
as  the  Mikado,  but  new,  ambitious,  and  ex- 
pensive, and  with  cooking  that  aims  to  be 
European,  but  is  not  anything  in  particular. 

We  had  a  good  night's  rest,  however,  and  set 
out  in  the  morning  full  of  enthusiasm  to  see 
the  sights. 

The  only  disappointment  in  store  for  us  was 
that  we  could  not  remain  for  life.    "One  of  the 

[581 


^ 


fe    a    » 


4     «     fl2     ^     ^     ^ 


HOTEL  BILL 


THE  INLAND  SEA 

garden  spots  of  the  Earth"  as  a  title  does  not 
half  do  justice  to  Miyajima.  Every  foot  of 
ground  is  beautiful  and  at  every  turn  a  new 
view  delights  the  eye.  The  old  Torii  sometimes 
on  dry  land,  again  with  its  feet  in  the  water,  is 
different  from  any  other  in  Japan;  the  temple  is 
charming  and  full  of  unusual  interests,  historical 
and  otherwise.  The  sacred  crows,  the  tame 
deer  that  eat  out  of  your  hand,  the  white 
horse  which  belongs  to  the  goddess  of  the 
island  and  which  you  are  allowed  to  feed,  for 
a  consideration,  but  not  to  touch,  the  innumer- 
able peach,  plum  and  cherry  trees  and  the 
fascinating  shops  and  booths  where  toys  and 
other  trifles  are  so  cheap  that  it  seems  extrava- 
gant to  leave  anything  behind,  were  all  be- 
wilderingly  alluring. 

One  could  be  busy  every  moment  for  a  week 
doing  the  various  things  supplied  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  the  traveler  and  pilgrim.  One  day 
could  be  delightfully  spent  climbing,  or  being 
carried  in  a  chair  swung  between  two  poles,  to 
the  top  of  the  mountain ;  another  in  accompany- 
ing a  priest  in  a  sam  pan  to  the  haunt  of  the 
sacred  pigeons  with  food  for  these  beautiful 
birds. 

For  the  sum  of  three  yen,  a  priest  will  have 
every  stone  lantern  on  the  island — and  they  are 

[59] 


THE  INLAND  SEA 

legion — lighted  at  night,  and  the  view  of 
Miyajima  thus  Hghted  is  something  that  can  be 
duplicated  nowhere  in  the  world. 

With  great  regret  we  boarded  the  distressingly 
new  and  up-to-date  electric  launch  which  is  the 
pride  of  our  hotel,  at  1 :  30  and  crossed  to  the 
Miyajima  railroad  station,  another  beautiful 
spot.  In  the  course  of  an  hour  our  train  ap- 
peared, crowded  with  natives  and  Englishmen 
and  Americans  on  their  way  from  homes  in 
China  and  the  Philippines  for  a  sight-seeing  and 
shopping  tour  in  Japan.  We  enjoyed  the  scenery 
along  the  edge  of  the  sea  much  more  from  the 
car  window  than  we  had  from  the  boat,  but  the 
troubles  the  through  passengers  had  obtaining 
sufficient  berths,  holding  them  when  once  ob- 
tained and  finally  in  getting  them  made  up, 
convinced  us  that  day  travel  was  best  on  land, 
as  quickly  as  a  peep  into  the  cabins  had,  that 
it  was  best  on  the  water.  At  each  station  we 
took  on  one  more  passenger  than  got  off  and 
always  there  seemed  to  be  "just  room"  till  at 
Kobe  a  whole  troop  of  actors  with  their  many 
admirers — fortunately  the  latter  remained  be- 
hind— poured  into  the  car  till  we  could  hardly 
see  or  breathe.  After  waking  all  the  babies  and 
exposing  them  to  pneumonia  while  they  bade 
their  friends  farewell,  they  finally  settled  into 

[601 


THE  INLAND  SEA 

the  dining  car  and  the  few  remaining  chinks  in 
the  sleeper;  12:30  was  never  more  welcome 
and  after  a  half  hour  'riksha  ride  we  were 
thankful  to  be  let  into  the  Kyoto  Hotel  by  a 
sleepy  porter  who  finally  woke  a  chamber-boy 
who  showed  us  into  two  huge  barns  with  the 
most  depressing  furniture  I  have  ever  beheld. 
Next  morning  we  unearthed  an  annex  with  neat, 
cheerful  rooms  overlooking  the  garden,  and  a 
bath  apiece.  (Ten  yen  a  day  each;  six  yen 
for  the  maid;  all  including  fires.) 


[61 


VII 


KYOTO 

March  twenty-fifth. 
HE  main  "sights"  of  Kyoto  could  be 
seen  in  a  week  but  there  are  so  many 
delightful  excursions  in  the  neigh- 
borhood and  the  streets  and  shops 
of  the  old  capital  are  of  such  endless  interest  that 
a  month  here  would  be  none  too  much.  If  one 
wants  any  peace  with  the  'riksha  men  it  is  well 
to  start  with  at  least  some  of  the  temples. 

Miss  Scidmore  describes  the  palaces  and  most 
important  temples  in  a  very  readable  manner 
in  "Jinrikisha  Days"  and  we  have  followed  her 
advice  as  to  what  was  most  worth  seeing  almost 
implicitly  and,  to  us,  with  very  satisfactory 
results.  Our  "ponies"  bully  us  unmercifully 
at  times,  but  in  most  instances  we  have  been 
able  to  see  what  we  wanted  to  and  cut  out  the 
rest,  and  they  certainly  afford  us  much  enjoy- 
ment and  occasionally  lead  us  to  something  we 
would  otherwise  have  missed  and  for  which  we 
are  most  grateful  to  them. 

Higashi-0-tani,  Yasakajiusha,  and  Chionin 
(the  big  bell)  are  all  conveniently  near  together, 

[62] 


A  BACK  STREET  IN  KYOTO 


7x 

[£] 

n     ^^ 

^H            1 

E 

W 

KYOTO 

next  Maruyama  Park,  with  its  historical  cherry 
tree,  charmingly  lighted  every  night  while  in 
blossom.  Then  Yaami's  famous  hotel,  small 
but  comfortable  and  much  less  expensive  than 
the  Kyoto  and  Miyako,  the  Yasaka  Pagoda 
with  its  beautiful  bronze  bells  on  every  corner 
of  its  five  stories,  and  the  Kiyomizu  Temple — 
an  easy  day's  work. 

The  Mikado's  Palace  and  the  Nijo  Palace 
(formerly  occupied  by  the  Shoguns  now  used  by 
the  Crown  Prince)  for  visiting  which  permits 
must  be  obtained  from  one's  legation  in  Tokyo, 
both  are  well  worth  seeing  with  their  kakamo- 
nos,  wall  paintings  and  carved  screens,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  beautiful  hardware  on  their 
shojis,  and  their  even  more  charming  gardens. 

In  conjunction  with  them,  if  pressed  for  time, 
one  may  take  in  the  Kinkakuji  or  Golden 
Temple,  a  veritable  gem!  Built  for  an  out-of- 
town  retreat  for  one  of  the  Shoguns,  it  became 
a  monastery  and  later  a  temple. 

After  admiring  the  beauties  of  the  main  build- 
ing with  one  of  the  priests,  we  chmbed  to  the 
top  of  the  pavilion  overlooking  the  little  lake 
accompanied  by  an  irrepressible  small  boy  who 
helped  us  feed  the  fish.  We  then  rambled 
through  the  garden  and  were  finally  invited  by 
our  inseparables  to  have  tea  with  some  priests 

[65] 


KYOTO 

in  a  little  cottage  on  the  hill.  Little  did  we 
suspect  when  a  red  lacquer  tray  containing  a 
paper  napkin  and  a  white  square  with  a  picture 
of  Kinkakuji  in  the  frosting  was  placed  in  front 
of  each  of  us  that  "ceremonial  tea"  was  to 
follow — or  we  should  probably  have  fled.  A 
charming  old  man  served  us  and  the  death- 
dealing  concoction — or  so  it  tasted  to  us — was 
presented  in  the  most  beautiful  of  bowls.  We 
nibbled  the  sweet  {?),  gulped  down  as  much  as 
was  humanly  possible  of  the  awful  mess  and 
were  so  embarrassed  over  not  being  able  to 
drain  our  bowls  as  etiquette  demanded  that  we 
forgot  to  wrap  up  the  confection  and  take  it 
away  in  our  pockets!  One  of  our  hosts  per- 
formed that  office  for  us  with  snorts  of  rage  at 
our  ill-breeding  while  the  other  with  similar 
cheering  sounds  removed  the  half  empty  bowl. 
It  was  a  most  humiliating  experience  and  we 
beat  a  hasty  and  undignified  retreat. 

On  the  way  out,  we  stopped  at  the  Shinto 
shrines  of  Kitano  and  Hirano  to  see  their  lovely 
gardens.  Now  we  hastened  home  to  hide  our 
diminished  heads. 

The  Heianjigu  shrines  are  not  specially  inter- 
esting in  themselves,  but  hide  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  gardens  in  Kyoto — little  suspected  in 
a  cursory  peek  through  the  gate. 

[661 


GINKAKUJI,   THE   SILVER  TEMPLE 


0 


M 


KYOTO 

Ginkakiiji,  or  the  Silver  Temple,  lies  in  a 
totally  different  direction  from  any  of  the  other 
"sights,"  but  nothing  could  be  more  restful, 
after  several  days  of  sightseeing,  than  this 
hour's  ride  mostly  through  the  "truly  rural" 
districts,  past  tea  fields  and  farm-houses.  We 
were  finally  led  by  an  "embryo  priest" 
with  the  face  of  a  cherub  to  the  house  where 
Yoshimasa,  eighth  of  the  Ashikaga  shoguns, 
with  the  assistance  of  Murato  Shinkio,  the 
priest,  and  Soami,  the  painter,  evolved  the  Tea 
Ceremony  or  Cha  no  yu ;  then  to  the  incense 
room,  to  admire  the  art  treasures  of  kakemonos 
and  print-books  and  lastly  through  the  delight- 
ful garden.  When  offered  tea  we  took  no 
chances,  mindful  of  our  disgrace  of  the  other 
day. 

Fortunate  indeed  are  those  who  reach  Kyoto 
armed  with  an  introduction  to  the  charming 
principal  of  The  Doshisha  Girls'  School.  Hers  is 
the  magical  key  that  opens  all  doors  and  solves 
all  problems.  Marvellous  are  the  excursions  she 
plans  and  endless  are  the  joys  and  surprises  she 
arranges  for  these  favored  ones. 

We  found  her  in  vacation  time  when  teachers 
and  scholars,  except  the  handful  who  lived  too 
far  away,  had  scattered  to  their  homes.  Even 
then  she  was  in  constant  demand  from  early 

[691 


KYOTO 

morn  till  she  finally  escaped  to  bed, — rather  a 
high  price  to  pay  for  the  unique  place  she  has 
won  for  herself  in  thirty  years'  residence.  In 
spite  of  the  incessant  appeals  she  managed  to 
save  many  happy  hours  for  us  and  to  procure 
for  us  many  pleasures  which  would  otherwise 
have  been  unknown.  One  whole  morning  we 
drove  with  her  and  the  foremost  gardener  of 
Kyoto  from  one  to  another  of  the  lovely  private 
gardens  so  jealously  guarded  from  the  public  eye. 

As  the  opportunity  was  a  rare  one  we  were 
quite  a  party.  A  shriveled-up  little  German 
Egyptologist  and  his  friend  and  inseparable 
companion,  a  big  burly  Englishman  whose  one 
idea  seemed  to  be  to  get  as  many  photographs 
of  the  party  as  possible.  An  American  lady 
who  was  much  keener  on  getting  the  names  of 
the  titled  owners  of  the  gardens  into  her  note- 
book— in  order  to  impress  friends  at  home — 
than  she  was  on  seeing  the  gardens.  A  young 
New  Yorker,  traveling  in  the  interest  of  the 
Metropolitan  Museum,  who  turned  out  to  be 
an  old  friend  whom  I  had  not  seen  since  we 
attended  dancing  school  together,  and  a  few 
professional  tourists,  English  and  American. 

These  gardens  are  invariably  laid  out  with  an 
eye  to  the  effect  at  every  season  of  the  year 
and  everything  in  them  has  a  meaning  even  to 

[701 


COUNT  ICHIDA'S   GARDEN 


KYOTO 

the  size  and  shape  of  the  stepping-stones  across 
a  brook. 

The  Moon-seats  (covered  settees  so  placed  as 
to  afford  the  best  view  of  the  moon)  always 
have  three  stones  in  front  of  them  of  different 
heights.  "The  most  honorable  guest"  sits  so 
as  to  put  his  feet  on  the  highest  stone,  "the 
next  most  honorable  guest"  places  his  on  one 
of  medium  height,  and  so  on. 

The  ideas  were  all  so  charming  as  to  give 
one  a  desire  to  stay  and  take  up  gardening  as 
a  profession. 

Another  experience,  full  of  atmosphere,  which 
we  owed  to  her,  was  the  evening  spent  in  the 
little  settlement  where  a  native  and  his  wife, 
good  Christian  people,  live  and  do  neighborhood 
work  by  day  and  throw  their  rooms  open  for 
classes  in  English,  gymnastics,  and  other 
subjects  at  night  and  for  Sunday  School  and 
prayer  meetings  on  Sunday.  This  occasion  was 
an  entertainment.  The  young  men  presented 
the  trial  scene  from  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  in 
Japanese,  translated  from  English  and  staged, 
entirely  by  themselves.  The  acting  was  so 
realistic  that  any  one  at  all  familiar  with  his 
Shakespeare  could  not  fail  to  follow  it  with  ease. 

Before  and  afterward,  an  English  girl,  pressed 
into   service  for  the   occasion,   sang   to   them 

[73] 


KYOTO 

familiar  songs  and  hymns  in  which  the  children 
joined  in  the  chorus  with  great  delight. 

To  our  stupefaction  the  meeting  closed  with 
prayer,  but  no  one  else  thought  it  strange  and 
all  filed  out  with  many  bows  to  their  teachers 
and  the  visitors  as  well. 

Here  we  met  one  of  the  older  young  men  said 
to  be  an  expert  in  jiu  jitsu,  and  when  he  found 
we  were  interested  he  kindly  made  an  engage- 
ment to  call  for  us  and  take  us  to  see  some  good 
work  at  the  Jiu  Jitsu  School.  It  opens  at  three 
in  the  afternoon.  There  is  a  large  room,  mostly 
arena,  with  room  for  spectators  on  two  sides, 
and  alcoves  where  the  participants  can  change 
their  costumes  in  full  view  of  every  one  present 
— which  they  do  without  the  slightest  idea  that 
such  a  proceeding  is  even  unusual !  As  many  as 
fifty  couples  were  wrestling  and  as  many  more 
fencing,  the  space  being  about  equally  divided 
for  the  two  forms  of  sport.  One  felt  the  need  of 
a  few  extra  pairs  of  eyes  about  as  much  as  at  a 
three-ring  circus.  Boys  of  seven  or  eight  are 
sent  here  to  learn  to  wrestle,  this  being  as  much 
a  part  of  necessary  education  as  the  three  R's  at 
home,  but  they  do  not  take  up  fencing  under 
twelve.  I  use  the  word  "wrestle"  for  lack  of  a 
better,  but  it  gives  an  entirely  erroneous  idea. 
In  jiu  jitsu  the  idea  is  not  to  oppose  the  oppo- 

[74] 


STREET   SCENE,  KYOTO 


KYOTO 

nent  in  any  sense,  but  to  cede  to  him  until  he 
wearies  himself,  to  aggravate  his  violence  and 
give  his  thrusts  more  impetus,  and  so  lead  him 
on  to  over-exertion  and  possibly  the  dislocation 
of  his  own  joints  and  breaking  of  his  bones. 
This  theory  is  particularly  interesting  as  it  is 
really  a  fundamental  principle  of  life:  carried 
into  every  form  of  warfare,  even  international 
politics.  Jiu  jitsu  practice  is  conducted  in  per- 
fect silence,  while  fencing  is  accompanied  by  so 
much  conversation  as  to  remind  the  uninitiated 
of  a  visit  to  a  Madison  Square  Garden  Dog  Show. 

There  were  about  a  dozen  girls  among  the 
fencing  pupils.  Teachers  and  most  skilful 
pupils  are  quickly  discerned  by  a  color  badge. 
In  jiu  jitsu  it  is  the  belt  and  in  fencing  a  ribbon 
on  the  helmet.  Black  is  the  highest  color  in 
each,  brown  next,  then  white  and  so  on.  But 
as  this  is  the  highest  school  in  the  land,  one 
with  a  third  or  fourth  rate  standing  here,  is 
expected  to  easily  win  from  the  most  expert 
representatives  of  the  other  schools. 

We  walked  home  through  Theater  Street  and 
were  so  amused  by  decorations,  venders  of 
everything  one  could  think  of,  and  mountebanks, 
that  it  was  hard  to  realize  that  this  part  of 
town,  quite  forbidden  to  kuruma,  is  always  so 
gay,  day  in  and  day  out. 

[771 


VIII 

THE  CHERRY  DANCE 

HAT  evening  was  the  first  perform- 
ance of  the  Cherry  Dance.  Lest  we 
miss  it,  we  secured  our  first-class 
tickets  well  in  advance — small  pieces 
of  cherry  wood  covered  with  hieroglyphics — and 
repented  afterwards  of  our  extravagance,  for  they 
also  entitled  us  to  "ceremonial  tea"  served  to  us 
by  poor  little  painted  dolls,  geisha  apprentices, 
apparently  ranging  from  six  to  twelve  years  of 
age.  They  took  their  duties  very  seriously,  en- 
tering in  silent  procession,  six  at  a  time,  solemnly 
holding  in  both  hands  the  plate  of  sweets  or 
bowl  of  tea,  bowing  low  to  each  person  as  they 
deposited  it.  The  plates  were  of  lacquer  and 
intended  for  souvenirs,  a  paper  nakpin  was 
also  supplied  to  wrap  up  the  unconsumed 
sweets.  This  time  we  had  the  courage  of  our 
convictions  and  "passed"  on  the  tea,  feeling 
rather  uncomfortable  at  being  thus  conspicuous 
in  spite  of  assurance  from  the  hotel  manager 
that  no  one  would  be  offended  if  we  refused  to 
drink  it.  This  took  a  long  time  and  the  room 
was  close,  so  it  was  with  much  relief  that  we 


PILGRIMS  IN  THE  STREETS  OF  KYOTO 


/^ 

7X 

0  :;il:i::i::^ 

^H 

0 

THE    CHERRY    DANCE 

finally  proceeded  to  an  inadequate  gallery. 
Here  again  we  envied  those  with  cheaper  tickets, 
for  they  were  already  occupjdng  the  best  seats — 
corresponding  to  our  orchestra  chairs.  The  per- 
formers filed  onto  the  stage  from  the  back, 
coming  up  both  sides,  musicians,  singers  and 
dancers  all  dressed  in  brilliant  blue  embroidered 
with  violent  pink  cherry  blossoms  and  with 
very  ornate  faces  and  head-dresses.  The  bi- 
zarre effect  was  heightened  by  the  melancholy 
minor  notes  of  the  samisen,  and  the  weirdly  un- 
natural singing  voices;  the  dances  were  slow 
and  graceful,  each  motion  studied  and  formal. 
As  the  whole  performance  was  repeated  several 
times  in  an  evening  before  different  audiences, 
there  were  no  intermissions  between  acts,  but 
always  a  change  of  scene — made  almost  instan- 
taneously before  our  eyes.  Ceilings  would  fall, 
floors  rise  up,  walls  jump  out  of  place — all  di- 
rected by  unseen  hands  and  giving  a  most  un- 
canny sensation. 

Much  as  we  enjoyed  it  all,  the  ride  which 
followed  through  balmy  night  air  to  the  great 
Cherry  Tree  near  the  Gion  Temple  in  Maruyama 
Park  was  more  than  refreshing.  It  seemed  a 
jump  back  from  the  artificial  to  the  natural — 
almost  the  supernatural  when  we  drew  up  in 
front  of  the  center  of  attraction,  an  enormous 

[81] 


THE    CHERRY    DANCE 

tree,  with  wide-spreading  branches  all  covered 
with  large,  full-blown  blossoms,  surrounded  by 
a  rope-fence  and  suspended  from  each  post  a 
miniature  witch's  cauldron  filled  with  blazing 
kindling  wood.  The  park  was  thronged  with 
men,  women  and  children,  each  carrying  a 
lighted  paper  lantern,  all  in  constant  motion. 
Lantern  venders  with  an  ever-ready  eye  for 
business  were  on  hand  to  supply  the  needs  of 
those  who  came  unprepared  or  who  met  with 
accidents — conflagrations  being  always  expected^ 
and  with  reason. 

A  visit  to  Kyoto  is  far  from  complete  without 
an  excursion  to  the  curio  and  antique  shops^ 
Many  of  them  are  historical  and  should  be  ap- 
proached with  an  open-minded  desire  to  see  all 
phases  of  life,  and  a  readiness  for  any  experi- 
ences. The  hasty  "shopper"  misses  the  better 
part;  time  should  be  no  object. 

Matsobia,  a  good  distance  out,  has  one  part 
of  his  shop  for  natives,  the  other  for  foreigners, 
and  a  marvellous  collection  of  second-hand  ki- 
monos, gift-cloths,  and  other  treasures.  Nomura^ 
opposite  Benten's,  has  ivories,  bronzes,  em- 
broideries and  the  like.  Yamanaka,  near  Maru- 
yama  Park,  has  everything — including  bags 
for  your  feet — you  can  think  of,  ancient  and 
modern  and  best  of  its  kind.    You  feel  you  are 

[82] 


PRIEST   WITH  PRAYER  FAN,   KYOTO 


^H 

0 

\y 

THE    CHERRY   DANCE 

not  in  a  shop  but  have  wandered  unawares  into 
a  museum. 

Namikawa,  the  most  famous  maker  of  cloi- 
sonne, has  a  dehghtful  garden  back  of  his  shop 
and  is  himself  worthy  a  visit.  Unfortunately  he 
was  out  of  town  when  we  called  and  we  missed 
seeing  the  old  man. 

Seifu,  on  Gojo  Saka,  near  Spectacle  Bridge,  is 
rapidly  coming  to  the  fore  as  a  maker  of  pottery 
and  beautiful  in  color  and  form  is  everything  on 
his  shelves. 

Whether  or  not  you  care  for  Satsuma  you 
must  go  to  Kinkozan's  where  you  may  see  the 
whole  process  from  beginning  to  end  (you  had 
best  purchase  something  before  asking  for  the 
privilege)  and  you  are  sure  to  come  away  with  a 
lighter  pocketbook. 

He  who  does  not  care  for  bamboo  had  best 
look  closely  before  putting  himself  on  record,  or, 
like  myself,  he  may  be  forced  to  admire  against 
his  will  and  to  his  surprise  find  many  old  friends 
whose  origin  he  had  never  suspected.  Bamboo, 
like  many  other  things  of  Japanese  manufacture, 
is  too  often  estimated  by  the  rubbish  seen  in 
America,  which  is  entirely  made  up  for  foreign 
trade.  So  convinced  are  they  that  this  is  the 
sort  of  thing  we  like,  that  those  who  appreciate 
and  want  articles  used  and  admired  by  natives 

[85  1 


THE    CHERRY    DANCE 

find  it  a  labor  of  time  and  patience  to  persuade 
the  shop-keeper  to  produce  them  for  his  in- 
spection. The  love  of  the  beautiful  is  so  inborn 
that  the  most  ordinary  utensils  of  copper,  por- 
celain or  wood  are  things  of  beauty,  no  matter 
how  inexpensive.  The  workmanship  is  always 
exquisite,  and  the  care  and  time  expended, 
endless. 

The  fact  that  a  thing  is  to  be  for  temporary 
use  and  quickly  discarded  has  no  influence  over 
the  maker.  His  labor  is  always  painstaking  and 
careful.  Even  rakes,  brooms  and  hearth-brushes, 
usually  so  hopelessly  ugly,  here  become  treas- 
ures fit  for  a  cabinet.  The  metal  beam-corners, 
and  finger  sockets  for  sliding  the  shoji  of  the 
poorest  houses  are  beautifully  chased  or  carved. 
Straw  sandals  that  must  be  thrown  away  at  the 
end  of  a  few  miles  are  all  braided  by  hand  and 
I  never  could  become  accustomed  to  the  sight  of 
men  standing  on  a  scaffold  tying  knot  by  knot 
the  ropes  of  rice  straw  that  hold  in  place  the 
bamboo-ribs  that  form  the  foundation  for  plaster 
in  the  houses  built  to  resist  earthquakes.  In 
this  connection  I  might  add  that  practically 
everything  that  cannot  be  made  of  rice-straw, 
can  be  made  of  bamboo,  and  vice  versa.  The 
ideal  roof  in  time  of  earthquake  is  still  thatch, 
but  on  account  of  danger  from  fire  it  is  gradu- 

[861 


THE    CHERRY   DANCE 

ally  giving  way  in  congested  districts  to  heavy 
tile,  not  nearly  so  pretty.  Although  electric 
lighting  is  now  quite  common,  the  paper  lan- 
tern is  as  popular  as  ever  on  gala  occasions,  and 
will  probably  never  be  entirely  banished.  Con- 
sequently fires  will  continue  to  flourish. 


871 


IX 

HUMAN  TANDEMS 

March  thirtieth. 
|INCE  the  building  of  the  Tokaido 
Railroad,  'riksha  travel  along  that 
route  has  been  nearly  abandoned, 
and  most  tourists  who  wish  to  "  take 
in"  the  beauties  of  Lake  Biwa,  take  the  half- 
hour  run  by  rail  to  Otsu  and  return  by  canal. 
This  is  particularly  recommended  just  now,  as 
the  building  of  a  trolley  line  is  keeping  the  road 
in  pretty  poor  condition. 

We  were  not  to  be  dissuaded,  however,  and 
at  ten  o'clock  one  bright  morning  we  started, 
single  file,  two  "boys"  to  each  'riksha.  The 
first  mile  after  passing  the  Miyako  Hotel  was 
pretty  bad  and  as  it  was  uphill  our  boys  groaned 
and  grunted  and  my  "one-eyed  aflSnity,"  as 
the  D.  B.  calls  him,  who  as  usual  was  leader, 
finally  stopped  arid  with  his  winning  smile  asked 
us  to  "take  a  little  walk." 

We  were  really  glad  to,  this  time,  and  soon 
the  worst  was  over  and  we  were  bowling  along 
again,  on  good  road,  past  picturesque  villages, 
their  streets  swarming  with  children  shouting 
"E-day-da"  at  sight  of  us — we  decided  after 


PINE   FOREST  BEHIND   TEMPLE  AT   OTSU 


HUMAN    TANDEMS 

much  consultation  that  that  is  Japanese  for 
*'easy  mark";  it  really  is  a  corruption  of  the 
word  meaning  foreigners.  On  we  went  between 
rows  of  weeping  willows  just  leafed  out,  rice- 
fields  and  orchards  ready  to  burst  into  bloom; 
then  through  a  dark  ravine  with  splashing  water- 
fall doing  duty  further  on  by  turning  a  huge 
mill  wheel.  It  was  like  a  dream-ride  and  just 
when  we  became  a  trifle  tired  of  sitting,  we 
stopped  in  front  of  a  neat  teahouse  and  were 
served  with  the  usual  thimble-full  of  colorless 
but  delicious  refreshment,  while  our  eyes  feasted 
on  the  beauties  of  the  garden  beyond.  The 
pretty  little  maid  who  waited  on  us  looked  like 
a  butterfly  in  her  bright  kimono  and  presented 
no  bill  but  was  pleased  with  the  20  sen  left  on 
her  tray.  Then  on  again  till  we  reached  Otsu  at 
twelve  noon,  where  we  first  visited  the  Temple, 
not  much  to  see  in  itself,  but  commanding  a 
wonderful  view  of  the  lake  and  its  surrounding 
mountains  which  rewarded  us  for  the  climb  up 
the  many  stone  steps.  Going  down  the  other 
side  of  the  terrace  we  found  ourselves  in  a  park, 
black  with  huge  pine  trees,  and  every  few  steps 
discovering  some  fresh  beauty,  arranged  by  man 
or  nature  for  our  pleasure. 

The  pangs  of  hunger  assailing  us  we  proceeded 
to  the  hotel — having  scorned  to  bring  lunch  with 

[911 


HUMAN    TANDEMS 

us — where  we  were  led  up  two  flights  of  stairs  to 
a  charming  big  room  with  balcony  overlooking 
the  lake.  As  usual  the  idea  of  Europeans  want- 
ing a  regular  "Nippon  Tiffin"  was  long  in 
filtering  through  the  native  mind,  but  it  came 
at  last,  and  such  a  repast!  First  raw  fish,  cut 
in  neat  slices,  standing  at  one  side  of  each  indi- 
vidual plate,  raw  yolk-of-egg  in  front,  alongside 
of  it  a  sticky  white  substance,  and  a  dash  of 
green  in  each  end.  To  eat  raw  egg  with  chop- 
sticks is  no  easy  task  and  when  achieved  we 
felt  very  proud.  Next  shrimp  fishballs  (not 
fried),  with  what  looked  like  brussels-sprouts, 
but  tasted  more  like  bamboo.  A  liquid  resem- 
bling beef -tea  was  served  on  a  little  butter-plate 
and  intended  as  sauce  for  the  fish.  At  the  same 
time  soup  in  little  covered  bowls  with  "prizes" 
in  the  bottom,  which  gave  the  effect  of  an 
aquarium.  Next,  salad  made  of  uncooked 
mushrooms,  and  sliced  cucumbers.  We  closed 
with  fried  eels  and  delicious  rice,  fruit,  and 
tea.  The  beautiful  ride  to  the  Karasaki  Tem- 
ple and  the  wonderful  pine  tree  was  a  joy 
most  tourists  skip,  but  it  was  well  worth  while. 
My  "angel  boy"  recommended  the  trip  back 
to  the  canal  by  steamer,  but  we  rebelled. 
Strange  that  we  should  derive  more  pleasure 
from  "being  pulled"  than  they  from  pulling! 

[921 


ROOM  AT  OTSU  WHERE   LUNCH  WAS   SERVED 
IN  JAPANESE   STYLE 


HUMAN    TANDEMS 

Arrived  at  the  canal  and  having  indulged  in 
special  boat  tickets — three  yen  for  the  party 
— we  watched  the  natives  for  a  while  scram- 
bling in  hordes  into  boats  with  a  covered 
center  not  unlike  gondolas,  as  usual  removing 
their  shoes  before  stepping  on  the  mats.  After 
much  jabbering  a  brand  new  boat,  without 
matting  was  brought  for  us  and  three  camp 
chairs  placed  in  the  bow — ^but  not  to  the  satis- 
faction of  my  "Wall-eyed  S.  M."  A  piece  of 
matting  had  to  be  produced  for  my  august 
feet  and  the  chairs  first  placed  "spike,"  had  to 
be  arranged  so  that  the  ladies  sat  in  front,  the 
yama  san  just  behind,  with  a  rug  in  each  chair. 
This  accomplished,  we  were  invited  to  enter 
and  with  majestic  tread  the  present  arbiter  of 
our  destinies  withdrew  under  the  canopy  to 
revel  in  thoughts  of  the  "other  'riksha  boys  taking 
little  walk"  to  the  far  end  of  the  canal,  until  he 
became  so  cold  and  stiff  from  unaccustomed 
inaction  and  the  clammy  blasts  in  the  tunnels 
that  we  could  hear  his  teeth  chatter.  The  first 
tunnel  is  2436  meters  long  and  seemed  endless, 
though  in  reality  it  takes  less  than  half  an  hour 
to  go  through  it.  Then  out  into  the  bright  sun- 
light between  the  lovely  hillsides  and  beautiful 
banks  edged  on  each  side  with  picturesque  tow- 
paths.     These  latter  were  in  constant  use,  as 

[95  1 


HUMAN    TANDEMS 

the  current  is  much  too  swift  to  admit  of  rowing 
or  poling  on  the  return  trip.  This  part  of  the 
journey  was  so  pretty  as  to  well  repay  us  for 
the  chill  we  suffered  and  on  a  warm  summer 
day  should  be  a  delight.  The  second  tunnel 
was  little  more  than  a  bridge  and  at  the  exit  of 
the  third,  849  meters,  we  had  reached  our  desti- 
nation and  the  'rikshas.  In  a  few  moments  we 
were  back  at  the  hotel  enjoying  tea  and  declar- 
ing that  this  was  one  of  the  best  days  we  had 
had,  and  that  none  of  the  guide-books  did  the 
trip  justice. 

March  thirty-first. 

The  best  train  for  Arashiyama — if  one  wishes 
his  boatmen  to  return  the  same  day  and  so  be 
spared  the  expense  of  extra  pay — leaves  Kyoto 
at  ten.  After  an  hour's  ride  with  more  or  less 
interesting  companions,  we  alighted  at  the  sta- 
tion from  which  it  is  only  a  ten-minute  walk  to 
the  boat  landing,  but  'rikshas  are  waiting,  and 
if  there  is  a  crowd  it  is  well  to  make  a  dash  for 
it,  as  otherwise  one  may  have  a  long  wait  for  a 
boat,  unpainted  flat-bottom  affairs,  accommo- 
dating from  three  to  six  passengers  apiece,  and 
with  a  crew  of  four  men.  We  secured  the  second 
boat  for  seven  yen,  which  was  much  better  than 
being  first,  as  the  thrills  were  greater  when  we 

[961 


HILLSIDE   OPPOSITE   ARASHIYAMA 


0 


0 


HUMAN   TANDEMS 

watched  others  bobbing  about.  Shooting  the 
rapids  was  just  exciting  enough  to  be  pleasant 
without  the  shghtest  need  for  fear.  The  trip 
down  took  a  Httle  over  an  hour.  The  weather 
was  still  cool  enough  for  heavy  wraps  to  be 
desirable,  but  signs  of  spring  were  everywhere 
and  the  day  made  to  order, — bright  sunlight; 
wonderful  cloud-effects.  The  water  sparkled 
and  danced  and  our  way  wound  in  and  out 
between  mountains,  sometimes  only  room  enough 
for  the  Oigawa  river.  Then  the  hills  would 
widen  out  exposing  rice  fields,  or  less  fertile 
country  where  peasants  were  busy  gathering 
weeds — for  what  purpose  we  could  not  guess 
— or  fagots  and  firewood.  Every  few  minutes 
we  would  overtake  a  raft  of  logs,  floating  down 
to  the  saw-mill  and,  after  some  poling  and 
pushing  and  much  conversation  between  pilots, 
we  would  pass  gloriously  ahead.  Occasionally 
we  met  boats  on  the  way  up,  single  or  in  groups, 
sometimes  being  poled,  sometimes  towed.  The 
most  exciting  moments  were  when  rival  boats 
tried  to  pass  the  same  raft  on  opposite  sides, 
defeating  their  own  purpose  of  gaining  time, 
and  making  as  much  extra  work  for  their  own 
crew  as  for  the  one  ahead  they  had  hoped  to 
pass.  The  scenery  grew  constantly  more  beau- 
tiful until  the  last  half  mile,  where  the  hillsides 

[99] 


HUMAN   TANDEMS 

fairly  blazed  with  color;  pale  pink  of  the  cher- 
ries, deep  pink  of  the  peaches,  all  enhanced  by 
a  background  of  green  firs  and  sunlight  trickling 
through  here  and  there  and  discovering  tiny 
teahouses  hidden  away  among  the  foliage. 
The  'riksha  men,  ordered  to  meet  us  at  two 
o'clock  and  not  before,  were  ready  to  help  us 
out  of  the  boats  when  we  landed  at  twelve,  and 
were  most  disappointed  to  find  that  we  knew 
exactly  which  place  we  wished  to  patronize  and 
had  no  desire  to  have  them  act  as  interpreters 
in  ordering  our  lunch.  After  the  usual  bowings 
and  o'hai  yas,  a  bunch  of  chattering  magpies 
— the  Japanese  find  it  impossible  to  do  anything 
singly,  or  else  have  never  tried — led  us  up  the 
customary  wooden  stairway  (polished  till  its 
surface  could  serve  as  a  mirror  and  which  made 
you  sympathize  with  the  ban  against  shoes) 
and  into  a  room  with  a  tiny  balcony  overlook- 
ing the  river  but  with  its  charm  quite  spoiled 
by  hideous  European  chairs,  and  a  kitchen 
table  off  which  we  were  supposed  to  eat  our 
lunch.  More  giggling  and  chattering  and  frantic 
effort  and  at  last  they  were  quite  convinced 
that  this  mark  of  respect  was  entirely  unappre- 
ciated and  that  nothing  would  do  us  but  a  truly 
"Nippon"  lunch  in  "Nippon"  style.  Out  went 
table  and  chairs  and  in  came  a  tiny  substitute 

[1001 


POLING  BACK  FROM   THE   RAPIDS,  ARASHIYAMA 


[£] 


\B\ 


HUMAN    TANDEMS 

for  the  former,  six  inches  high,  a  futon  apiece 
and  a  hibachi  to  warm  our  hands  and  light  our 
pipes.  We  had  a  dehcious  lunch,  fried  fish  (toi), 
also  eels  and  rice,  toast  and  tea,  several  delica- 
cies too  elusive  for  description,  and  a  golden 
omelet  which  tasted  like  nectar.  As  usual  we 
had  an  admiring  audience  (either  of  us  or  of  the 
way  we  handled  our  chopsticks)  ostensibly  to 
wait  on  us.  We  were  presently  discovered  by 
our  next  door  neighbors  who  opened  the  shoji 
a  crack  and  took  turns  peeking  through  and 
pointing  first  at  us  and  then  at  the  remains  of 
our  repast.  Judging  from  the  giggles  they 
thought  us  an  incongruous  combination.  We 
hated  to  leave,  but  another  treat  was  in  store 
for  us.  Our  tandems  took  us  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  rides  we  had  had,  and  in  half  an  hour 
we  were  presenting  our  special  passes  at  the 
entrance  of  Katsurano-Miya,  omitted  by  most 
tourists  either  because  they  do  not  know  of 
it  or  do  not  think  it  worth  while.  But  worth 
while  it  certainly  is,  and  historically  most  in- 
teresting, with  an  exceptionally  lovely  garden 
and  several  treasures.  One  of  these,  a  velvet 
wall-covering  seven  hundred  years  old,  was 
only  exhibited  because  we  captivated  our  guide 
and  guardian  by  our  enthusiastic  admiration. 
The  ride  home  by  a  more  direct  route  was 
8  [ 103  ] 


HUMAN   TANDEMS 

not  so  pretty,  as  we  left  the  open  country  for 
the  towns,  but  still  was  interesting,  and  we 
entered  Kyoto  near  the  Nishi  Hongwangi 
Temple  at  three  in  the  afternoon,  with  plenty 
of  time  to  see  it  and  the  equally  beautiful 
and  much  older  companion  temple,  Higashi 
Hongwangi.  Nishi  is  not  yet  finished  ;  it  is 
all  gold  and  glitter,  but,  when  your  eyes  be- 
come accustomed  to  the  dazzle,  is  of  really 
beautiful  workmanship. 

April  third. 

Why  any  one,  not  compelled  to,  should  go  to 
Osaka  I  cannot  say,  unless  to  ascertain  which 
of  its  nicknames,  the  Venice  or  the  Chicago  of 
Japan,  is  most  appropriate.  It  is  the  center  of 
commerce,  but  even  so,  the  former  title  is  an 
insult  to  Venice  and  the  latter  not  half  bad 
enough.  A  noisy,  smoky,  grimy  city,  it  cer- 
tainly has  nothing  to  commend  it  to  the  tourist, 
and  nothing  to  console  him,  once  there,  except 
a  picturesque  castle  wall.  It  is  only  an  hour 
and  a  half  by  rail  from  Kyoto  and  so  very  easy 
for  the  sceptical  to  go  down  and  see  for  them- 
selves. The  trains  run  frequently  and  another 
hour  takes  one  to  beautiful  Nara,  but  one  can 
go  there  as  easily  direct  from  Kyoto  and  skip 
Osaka  entirely — which  would  be  my  advice. 

[1041 


GIANT  PINE  TREE  AT  KARASAKI 


HUMAN    TANDEMS 

Nara  presents  a  charming  combination.  Its 
temples  and  historical  interests  are  of  the  oldest, 
while  the  Nara  Hotel  and  the  other  comforts 
are  modern  and  up-to-date.  One  can  wander 
for  hours  and  never  tire  of  the  endless  stone 
lanterns  and  stately  Cryptomeria  trees,  and 
feed  the  deer  that  eat  out  of  your  hands  and 
then  frisk  away  with  flying  leaps.  One  of  the 
most  restful  spots  in  all  Japan,  peaceful  and 
beautiful  and  yet  full  of  interest  and  oppor- 
tunity to  study  if  one  craves  it. 

Nagoya,  with  a  poor  hotel  and  little  to  see, 
and  Ise,  a  famous  shrine  pilgrimage — neither 
important  unless  time  is  no  object — are  at  good 
distances  to  break  the  journey  if  desired. 
Otherwise,  one  can  leave  at  7:30  a.  m.,  and 
reach  Tokyo  at  8  p.  m.  with  two  changes.  The 
next  best  train  arrives  at  midnight. 


105 


X 


THE   CAPITAL 

April  fifth. 
Imperial  Hotel. 

OKYO  seemed  so  very  Europeanized 
after  the  other  Japanese  towns  we 
had  been  visiting  that  our  first 
gUmpse  of  it  struck  us  with  the 
chill  of  disappointment.  The  streets  were  too 
wide,  automobiles  too  numerous,  trolleys  too 
noisy  and  too  fast,  and  there  were  too  many  brick 
and  stone  buildings.  Our  eyes  had  become  so 
unaccustomed  to  the  signs  and  symbols  of 
modem  civilization  that  the  shock  of  meeting 
them  all  again  dazzled  us  so  as  to  at  first  ob- 
literate the  picturesqueness  and  the  beauty  of 
the  things  really  Japanese.  We  soon  found, 
however,  that  they  were  all  there  and  that  it 
was  only  a  question  of  knowing  where  to  look. 
Though  I  cannot  claim  for  Tokyo  the  charm 
of  the  old  capital,  still  it  has  many  beauty 
spots  and  many  interests  peculiarly  its  own. 

The  Imperial  Palace,  built  near  the  center  of 
the  city,  with  its  beautiful  garden  thrown  open 
once  a  year  to  the  favored  few,  is  surrounded  by 

[1061 


STREET  SCENE  IJST  TOKYO 


THE  CAPITAL 

a  high  wall  and  broad  moat,  the  former  over- 
topped with  giant  pines  set  off  against  the  sky- 
line in  weird  and  fantastic  shapes,  which  when 
the  sun  is  right  cast  their  reflections  into  the 
water  beneath.  Nearly  circling  the  whole  is  a 
broad  avenue  with  a  double  line  of  cherry  trees, 
gorgeous  when  in  bloom  and  on  the  far  side  the 
principal  government  buildings  and  foreign  em- 
bassies, each  with  a  lovely  private  garden.  The 
United  States  Embassy  with  its  princely  occu- 
pant is  a  trifle  withdrawn. 

Shiba  Park  with  its  beautiful  pines,  nearby 
the  Shiba  Temples  with  the  magnificent  tombs 
of  the  Tokugawa  Shoguns,  and  a  little  farther 
on  Sengakuji  and  the  tombs  of  the  forty-seven 
Ronins,  can  all  be  visited  in  half  a  day  and  will 
more  than  repay  a  visit.  We  were  particularly 
interested  in  the  aforementioned  forty-seven, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  we  had  had  the  privilege 
in  Kyoto  of  meeting  a  descendant  of  one  of  them, 
who,  after  a  little  urging,  displayed  her  ancestor's 
sword  and  other  relics  and  with  a  fervor  of 
patriotism,  ancestor,  and  hero-worship,  rolled 
into  one,  related  the  whole  story  in  voluble  and 
fluent  Japanese.  This  again  was  translated  to 
us  into  perfect  English  by  a  native  college  pro- 
fessor, our  whole  party  squatting  on  futons  and 
sipping  tea  around  a  hibachi,  and  with  the  in- 

f  109  1 


THE  CAPITAL 

evitable  takamona  in  the  corner — a  perfect 
setting. 

During  cherry  blossom  season,  every  one  goes 
to  Uyeno  Park  to  admire  and  almost  to  worship 
Japan's  favorite  flower.  And  truly  it  is  worth 
all  the  veneration  it  receives.  Nowhere  can  they 
be  seen  to  better  advantage,  as  the  trees  are 
innumerable — in  rows  and  double  rows  and 
scattered  about  among  the  greens  of  all  shades. 
All  Tkoyo  is  there  of  a  Sunday — rich  and  poor, 
men,  women  and  children,  natives  and  foreigners, 
but  the  latter  in  the  minority.  Well  on  the 
outside  are  a  number  of  tea-houses,  here  and 
there  tables  spread  out  for  the  poorer  folk  who 
bring  their  tea  and  "eats"  with  them;  a  large 
exposition  building,  an  aquarium,  a  museum 
and  of  course  temples  with  their  Torii  and 
stone  lanterns. 

Distances  are  great  in  Tokyo,  but  we  did  not 
realize  how  great  until  we  attempted  to  do  a 
couple  of  errands  before  eleven  o'clock  service 
on  Good  Friday  morning.  The  Kurumaya 
move  more  slowly  than  in  other  parts  of  Japan. 
Banking  is  a  serious  matter  and  almost  as 
lengthy  a  one  as  in  Turkey.  Shopping  in  shops 
where  only  Japanese  is  spoken,  and  when  one 
wants  things  truly  Japanese  which  no  self- 
respecting  Jap  can  be  made  even  after  super- 

[1101 


IMPERIAL  PALACE   GROUNDS,  TOKYO 


(£] 


0 


THE  CAPITAL 

human   effort   to   imagine   that   any   foreigner 
would  want,  is  a  herculean  task. 

All  these  things  taken  into  consideration,  it 
may  not  seem  strange  that  at  10:  50  we  *'came 
to"  and  realized  that  it  would  take  a  good  half 
hour  to  get  back  to  the  American  Cathedral  and 
that  we  were  just  about  scenting  the  trail  of 
what  we  were  in  search  of.  To  stop  now  would 
mean  a  wasted  morning  so  far  as  our  quest 
was  concerned,  and  the  embarrassing  experience 
of  entering  church  when  the  service  was  half 
over.  The  day  before  the  Bishop  had  very 
kindly  suggested  that  we  might  be  interested 
to  attend  the  three  hour  Japanese  service  com- 
mencing at  twelve.  We  did  not  agree  with 
him  at  the  time,  but  now  the  invitation  occurred 
to  us  as  a  solution  of  our  difficulty.  We  could 
accomplish  what  we  started  out  to  do,  go  back 
for  lunch  and  then  go  to  church.  As  we  would 
not  know  what  was  being  said  anyway  the  fact 
that  we  were  late  would  not  matter.  This  plan 
we  carried  out  with  great  satisfaction  to  our- 
selves. The  cathedral  was  full  of  serious  and 
devout  men  and  women,  all  absolutely  intent 
on  the  day  and  the  purpose  for  which  they  were 
there.  We  knelt,  sat  or  stood  like  those  about 
us,  at  first  read  our  prayer  books  during  the 
reading  and  preaching  until  at  last  we  fell  under 

[1131 


THE  CAPITAL 

the  spell  of  the  earnestness  of  the  preacher  and 
the  melodious  rhythm  of  his  tones.  To  hear 
the  hymns  to  which  we  had  been  accustomed 
all  our  lives  sung  in  a  strange  language  by  a 
church  full  of  people  who  put  their  whole  souls 
into  their  singing,  was  most  inspiring  and  a 
comment  on  our  listless  congregations  at  home, 
most  of  which  hire  a  choir  to  sing  for  them,  a 
curate  to  read  to  them  and  pray  over  them,  and 
a  preacher  to  think  for  them  and  make  them 
feel  virtuous  through  condescending  to  listen  to 
him. 

A  chance  acquaintance,  with  a  knowledge  of 
the  language,  instructed  our  'riksha  boys  to  put 
us  down  at  the  far  end  of  the  Nacodori  that  we 
might  loiter  to  our  heart's  content,  as  that 
street  of  curio-shops  is  far  too  fascinating  to 
ride  through  even  with"  the  most  weary  of  two- 
footed  steeds.  We  looked  our  fill,  always  with 
one  eye  on  the  time,  as  a  learned  professor,  who 
in  response  to  the  request  of  a  friend  had  already 
called  twice  and  found  us  out,  had  telephoned  to 
know  if  he  might  call  and  take  tea  with  us  at 
our  hotel  at  five. 

This  time  we  were  there  and  he,  in  truly 
Japanese  style,  was  not!  In  this  connection, 
it  might  be  interesting  to  add  that  although  he 
telephoned  or  wrote  to  make  an  appointment 

[    114] 


PARK  OF  A  SUNDAY  AFTERNOON  IN   CHERRY- 
BLOSSOM  SEASON,  TOKYO 


THE   CAPITAL 

with  us,  on  an  average  of  once  a  day  during 
our  stay,  we  left  Tokyo  without  seeing  him,  but 
armed  with  a  goodly  supply  of  literature — his 
gift — on  Charitable  Institutions  and  Social  Work 
in  Japan ! 

Saturday  morning  we  planned  to  devote  to 
our  camera  and  more  especially  to  the  cherry- 
blossoms  which  were  quite  at  their  best  and 
which  we  wished  to  take  home  in  the  most  real- 
istic way  possible.  Unfortunately  the  weather- 
man disapproved  of  our  project  and  we  waked  to 
a  down-pour  of  rain  and  were  forced  to  compro- 
mise on  a  Shinto  Shrine,  a  large  museum  close 
by  mostly  filled  with  implements  of  war  and 
relics  of  the  late  conflict  with  Russia,  and  a  fruit- 
less quest  of  "Chin"  dogs. 

In  the  afternoon  we  had  the  pleasure  of  lunch- 
ing and  attending  the  famous  "No-dance"  with 
a  charming  Japanese  lady  who  had  attended 
college  in  America  and  therefore  spoke  our 
language  perfectly,  and  who  very  amiably  acted 
as  interpreter — no  easy  task,  as  the  peculiar 
singing  which  accompanies  this  ancient  and 
classical  drama  is  mostly  in  an  obsolete  form  of 
Japanese.  This  little  lady,  however,  being  the 
daughter  of  a  Shinto  priest  and  having  had  an 
interesting  career  before  going  abroad,  was  as 
highly  educated  in  things  pertaining  to  her  own 

[1171 


THE  CAPITAL 

people  as  in  things  American  and  European. 
Besides  teaching  school,  she  is  deep  in  the  work 
of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  which  not  only  has  a  large 
field  here,  but  seems  to  be  accomplishing  a  great 
deal  of  good.  One  of  their  biggest  problems 
just  now  is  trying  to  provide  suitable  homes 
for  the  hundreds  of  young  girls  who  come  to 
the  large  cities  every  year  to  attend  Christian 
schools  and  a  very  small  percentage  of  whom  can 
be  taken  as  boarding-pupils.  The  only  alterna- 
tive being  the  cheap  boarding  house  with  its 
endless  possibilities  for  temptation.  Mais,  reve- 
nons  a  nos  moutons.  Being  foreigners  and  not 
having  come  prepared  to  remove  our  shoes — 
the  weather  still  being  too  chilly  for  pumps  to  be 
alluring — we  were  ushered  to  a  large  box  which 
could  be  entered  from  a  side  passage,  supplied 
with  European  chairs  one  half  of  which  were 
labelled  as  having  been  reserved  by  a  "man 
(who  sat  in  one)  for  people  from  an  embassy" — 
so  we  were  once  more  in  the  society  of  the  truly 
great. 

The  "No"  being  a  religious  dance  and  a  sort 
of  Shinto  ceremonial  no  scenery  is  indulged  in, 
but  the  costumes  were  quite  elaborate  and  the 
supposedly  invisible  stage-shifters  dressed  in 
black  were  on  hand  to  arrange  the  folds  of  skirts 
and  costume  as  the  performers  stood  or  sat. 

[118  1 


THE  CAPITAL 

The  "No"  singing  is  very  "throaty"  but  high 
pitched — seeming  to  come  mostly  from  the  roof 
of  the  mouth — a  very  weird  combination.  Just 
now  it's  quite  a  "fad"  and  the  study  of  it  much 
indulged  as  a  pastime  among  the  young  men — 
as  ours  join  Squadron  A  or  the  Mendelssohn 
Glee  Club. 

Every  movement  is  slow  and  studied,  the 
so-called  dancing  being  merely  a  succession  of 
gestures  and  poses.  The  performers  all  entered 
by  way  of  a  door  on  the  left  hand  of  what  would 
have  been  our  stage,  walked  slowly  across  the 
front — some  who  wore  masks  without  eye- 
openings  being  obliged  to  count  their  steps — 
until  they  had  turned  the  corner  of  an  L  on  the 
right  where  all  the  action  took  place.  The  usual 
samisen  has  no  part  in  these  dramas,  the  accom- 
paniments all  being  played  on  drums  and  wind 
instruments.  On  the  whole  it  is  serious  and 
impressive  but  would  have  been  rather  tedious 
without  an  explanation. 


119 


XI 

EASTER 

E  reached  home  about  5 :  30  and  were 
enjoying  a  cup  of  tea  and  taking  off 
our  clothes  to  rest  when  a  belated 
and  characteristic  letter  from  our 
dear  friend  in  Kyoto  was  brought  to  the  door.  It 
read:  "Arriving  in  Tokyo  Saturday  a.  m.,  meet 
me  at  wonderful  vesper  service  in  Greek  Cathe- 
dral, Kanda,  Saturday  p.  m.  April  6th."  In 
the  excitement  and  pleasure  of  this  unexpected 
reunion  and  the  necessity  for  haste  if  the  oppor- 
tunity were  not  to  be  lost,  I  read  "6  p.m." — 
and  we  certainly  hurried  into  our  things  and  off. 
A  dressmaker  who  wanted  to  administer  a 
"fit"  was  dismissed  in  short  order,  'rikshas 
were  sent  for  in  haste ;  but  try  as  we  would  it 
was  well  past  six  when  we  arrived.  No  sign  of 
our  friend  and  still  less  of  a  service.  A  few 
priests  were  busy  "fussing  around,"  candles 
burned  dimly  before  several  handsome  ikons  and 
in  the  midst  of  the  gloom  a  figure  of  the  dead 
Christ  lay  in  state  on  a  bier  before  the  high  altar. 
We  tried  to  inquire  about  the  service,  but  no 
one   spoke    a    word   of   English   and   everyone 

[1201 


EASTER 

appeared  too  busy  to  bother  with  us,  finally 
a  man  made  signs  to  us  to  come  with  him  and 
we  followed  across  the  way  to  the  bishop's 
house.  Here  all  was  bustle.  Men  and  women 
were  rushing  hither  and  thither,  arranging 
flowers  and  preparing  for  an  elaborate  celebra- 
tion. One  or  another  gave  us  information  which 
we  could  not  understand  and  motioned  to  us 
to  go  here  and  there  with  no  special  purpose 
till  finally  the  guide  who  had  brought  us  from 
the  church  returned  and  led  us,  greatly  surprised 
and  doubtful  as  to  the  propriety  of  obedience, 
upstairs.  Leaving  us  in  the  hall  he  entered 
an  apartment  at  one  side,  where  he  was  presently 
followed  by  a  long-haired  bishop  who  glided  by 
and  closed  the  door.  In  a  couple  of  moments 
our  befriender  returned  and  ushered  us  into  a 
much  furnished  room  with  altar  and  reading- 
desk  covered  with  the  white  embroidered  cover- 
ings of  the  Easter  season,  and  chairs  drawn  up 
to  a  freshly -lighted  fire.  It  was  very  hospitable 
but  we  were  nervous  as  to  a  misinterpretation 
of  our  presence  and  made  a  hurried  and  uncere- 
monious exit  to  the  disappointment  and  confu- 
sion of  our  newly  acquired  friend.  On  emerging 
once  more  to  the  light  of  day — or  twilight — we 
saw  a  man  on  the  church  steps  who  was  unmis- 
takably American  and  promptly  accosted  him 

f  1211 


EASTER 

and  begged  for  information.  He  very  kindly 
explained  that  he  and  a  friend  were  in  the  same 
dilemma,  only,  being  able  to  speak  the  language, 
his  friend  was  inside  asking  questions.  In  a 
moment  he  appeared  with  the  tidings  that 
they  had  vespers  every  day  at  six,  but  that  today 
being  Easter-even  the  service  was  postponed 
until  eleven. 

The  next  question  was  what  had  become 
of  our  companion-that-was-to-have-been,  and 
should  we,  or  should  we  not,  return  again  at 
midnight.  The  yeas  won,  and  after  toasting 
over  the  fire  for  several  hours,  we  put  on  our 
warmest  wraps  and  launched  forth  again  into  a 
beautiful,  starlit  night,  with  a  wonderful  moon, 
and  almost  deserted  streets,  the  silence  only 
broken  by  the  patter,  patter  of  our  swift  steeds 
and  their  occasional  remarks  to  one  another 
evidently  philosophizing  on  the  craziness  of 
foreigners  in  general  and  the  amazing  form  it 
took  in  the  case  of  the  present  tyrants  in  par- 
ticular. Ignorance  of  the  language  has  its 
advantages  at  times  like  these.  Not  even  the 
thought  "what  would  our  friends  at  home  say 
if  they  could  see  us  two  women  wandering  the 
streets  of  a  strange  city — alone  at  this  hour  of 
the  night" — could  spoil  the  charm  of  that  excur- 
sion.    We  have  grown  so  to  look  upon  this  class 

f  122  1 


EASTER 

of  native  as  a  faithful  and  sure  means  of  getting 
from  place  to  place  without  effort,  and  so  lost 
sight  of  the  fact  that  they  are  men,  that  no 
thought  of  danger  in  connection  with  them  ever 
entered  my  head. 

When  we  finally  neared  the  Cathedral  and 
came  to  a  stop  it  was  in  a  narrow  alley -way,  well 
to  the  rear,  and  stumbling  up  the  uneven  steps 
by  the  light  of  our  own  paper  lanterns,  one  of 
which  was  loosed  and  carried  ahead  by  the 
Bombs  "boy,"  we  made  our  way  between  high 
stone  buildings  until  approaching  the  church  it- 
self we  found  it  in  very  much  the  same  confusion 
as  the  Bishop's  house  had  been  in  in  the  after- 
noon. Semi-darkness  still  reigned  within  but 
altar  coverings  and  the  like  were  being  changed, 
places  found  in  books,  carpets  laid  and  there  was 
a  constant  stream  of  children  in  and  out,  buy- 
ing candles  in  the  vestibule,  and  even  playing 
tag.  No  one  paid  the  slightest  attention  to  such 
unseemly  behavior.  Half  a  dozen  foreigners 
sat  waiting  on  pews  beside  the  door,  while  the 
natives  either  chattered  in  groups  on  the  porch 
or  knelt  inside  in  prayer.  One  woman  had  evi- 
dently been  in  that  attitude  so  long  that  she 
finally  fell  asleep  and  toppled  over — but  no  one 
noticed.  Finally  all  was  ready.  The  priests 
came  out  in  their  robes,  took  their  places  before 

[1231 


EASTER 

the  coffin,  and  the  noise  and  confusion  ceased. 
Then  with  much  ceremony,  the  coverings  were 
removed,  the  bier  raised  by  one  set  of  priests 
and  carried  to  a  side  chapel  while  others  re- 
moved the  supports  that  had  held  it.  Amid 
prayers  and  soft  chanting  it  was  replaced  in  its 
usual  position  under  a  glass  case,  the  whole 
covered  by  a  purple  pall.  Prayers  continued 
while  bishop  and  priests  withdrew  to  the  sac- 
risty, until  at  the  stroke  of  twelve,  they  reap- 
peared, robes  of  Holy  Week  replaced  by  those  of 
Easter.  A  light  in  the  hand  of  a  priest  quickly 
spread  around  the  building  as  every  one  hastened 
to  light  his  or  her  candle  from  that  of  a  more 
fortunate  neighbor,  a  procession  formed,  headed 
by  the  highest  dignitaries  carrying  relics,  and 
amid  much  chanting  and  swinging  of  censers 
passed  outside.  A  light  was  touched  to  the  end 
of  a  piece  of  string  hanging  from  each  chandelier 
and  wound  so  that  it  passed  over  the  wick  of 
each  of  the  seven  candles  on  each  branch  so  that 
they  seemed  to  blaze  simultaneously.  The 
"kiss  of  peace"  administered  and  the  cathedral 
circled,  the  procession  returned  and  passed 
between  the  lane  formed  by  those  who  remained 
within,  back  to  the  high  altar  where  the  service 
was  resumed.  We  waited  awhile  till  convinced 
that  we  would  be  rewarded  by  no  new  sensations, 

[124] 


EASTER 

then  drove  back  in  silence  through  the  streets 
that  seemed  to  belong  to  us  and  the  friendly 
moon. 

Although  so  at  variance  with  everything 
that  had  heretofore  seemed  a  part  of  this 
season,  we  felt  that  at  last  we  had  grasped  a 
little  of  the  Easter  spirit.  Missing,  in  our  days 
of  travel  and  sight-seeing,  the  usual  occupations 
and  symbols  of  the  Lenten  season,  we  had  sought 
them  in  our  own  church,  but  the  setting  was  so 
different  that  it  failed  in  impressiveness  and 
seemed  unreal.  As  the  realization  of  Lent  first 
came  to  us  in  the  Good  Friday  service,  in  an 
unknown  tongue,  so  we  felt  the  Easter  Peace  as 
we  left  this  remarkable  ceremony  of  the  Greek 
Catholics. 

That  that  was  our  Easter  had  quite  as  much 
to  do  with  a  certain  lack  in  the  eleven  o'clock 
Morning  Prayer  in  the  American  Cathedral  as 
the  fact  that  we  had  no  part  in  the  floral  decora- 
tions, and  no  Sunday  School  festival  with  Easter 
carols.  The  service  was  the  same,  we  sang  the 
same  hymns  and  listened  to  an  excellent  sermon. 
The  congregation  were  smiling  and  hearty  in 
their  welcome  to  the  strangers,  but  up  in  Kanda, 
at  midnight,  we  had  had  the  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings that  could  not  be  enjoyed  again  until  another 
year  had  been  lived  through. 

[125] 


EASTER 

Next  morning,  feeling  that  we  must  return 
seriously  to  the  neglected  duty  of  sight-seeing, 
we  made  an  early  start  for  Asakusa  Park,  which 
we  found  amiably  dressed  in  holiday  attire  and 
with  numberless  booths  and  mountebanks  doing 
small  but  lively  business  within  the  temple  en- 
closures so  that  it  was  hard  to  remember  that 
the  occasion  was  a  religious  one,  although  every- 
one was  paying  their  respects  to  the  famous 
but  invisible  Kwanon  by  gazing  at,  or  pouring 
water  over,  her  thirty -one  visible  and  small  rep- 
resentatives. As  usual  the  grounds  and  blos- 
soms were  a  treat  in  themselves  and  the  babble 
of  conflicting  sounds  and  colors  was  all  so  daz- 
zling that  it  was  hard  to  tear  ourselves  away. 
The  nearby  temple  of  Higashi  Hongwangi  re- 
ceived a  visit  and  a  charming  monastery  garden 
shown  us  by  a  speechless  boy  priest  at  the 
request  of  our  "boys." 

After  lunch,  feeling  the  need  of  exercise  and 
a  desire  to  shop,  we  strolled  about  until  so  for- 
tunate as  to  run  across  our  lost  Lady  of  Kyoto, 
who  had  imagined  all  this  time  that  we  had  her 
address  and  had  of  course  wondered  why  we 
had  not  phoned.  She  was  so  much  engaged 
with  her  fellow-delegates  that  all  we  could  secure 
from  her  was  the  promise  of  joining  us  for  break- 
fast the  next  day  if  we  would  accompany  her 

[1261 


EASTER 

thereafter  to  the  Presbyterian  Sunday  School 
Convention.  In  testimony  to  her  charms  be 
it  said  that  we  gladly  agreed. 

By  then  it  was  time  to  keep  an  engagement 
for  tea  with  a  stately  American  dame  leading 
a  life  similar  but  perhaps  more  interesting,  and 
a  trifle  more  lonely  than  she  would  have  had 
at  home  in  a  European  house  in  one  of  the  outer 
sections  of  the  city,  for  the  sake  of  her  son,  and 
a  daughter  who  had  married  a  missionary.     The 
contrast  to  all  we  had  been  seeing  of  late  and  at 
the  same  time  its  familiarity  were  very  pleasant 
and  we  lingered  till  time  to  start  for  a  "Gunobi 
party"  in  a  quiet  and  truly  Japanese  restaurant 
in  the  heart  of  the  city.     Our  friends  called  for 
us  so  there  was  no  fear  of  getting  lost,  and  we 
enjoyed  the  novelty  of  a  trolley  ride  unaccom- 
panied  by   anxiety.     Presently   we   were   in   a 
centre-court   the    darkness   weakened   only   by 
what  light  filtered  through  the  closed  shoji  of 
surrounding  rooms.     Taking  off  our  shoes  the 
American  half  of  our  party  of  six  replaced  them 
by  slippers  brought  in  our  pockets,  and  then 
went  upstairs  to  the  room  reserved  for  us.     At 
one  side  was  a  place  for  wraps  and  down  the 
centre  three  long  tables  about  six  inches  high, 
each  with  a  delightful  copper  fire-place  sunk 
in  the  middle  and  filled  with  burning  charcoal. 

[127] 


EASTER 

Alongside  were  two  copper  cups  for  heating  sak6. 
The  rice  was  brought  in  ready  cooked,  the  other 
ingredients  ready  cut  but  raw.  Two  worked 
with  chop-sticks  over  each  fire,  kneeUng  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  tables.  It  is  a  "homely 
dish" — in  the  English  sense — formerly  very 
popular  with  poets,  artists  and  thieves,  which 
perhaps  is  what  makes  it  so  palatable.  However 
that  may  be,  the  rice  bowls  were  all  passed  to 
be  refilled  more  than  once  and  the  huge  platters 
were  nearly  innocent  of  meat  and  vegetables, 
when  the  meal  was  concluded  with  tea,  fruit, 
and  dried  peas.  The  rain,  intermittent  all 
day,  had  finally  become  discouraged,  so  that  a 
walk  home  by  starlight  ended  a  most  unusual 
and  delightful  evening. 

"It  was  early  to  bed  and  early  to  rise"  for 
our  breakfast  guest  had  promised  to  join  us 
at  eight  o'clock.  A  scribbled  card  announced 
her  arrival  long  before  that  hour  and  afterward 
she  willingly  stayed  and  chatted  while  I  had 
another  fitting,  Chinese  tailors  in  Tokyo  are 
skilful,  quick  and  cheap.  Then  we  all  went 
together  to  the  Presbyterian  Sunday  School 
Convention,  or  a  session  of  it,  and  listened  to 
several  speakers  in  succession  giving  their  private 
version  of  the  reasons  why  a  preference  for  two 
different  sets  of  text  books  had  divided  their 

[128] 


EASTER 

body  into  opposing  factions,  and  realized  that 
these  problems  though  different  in  detail  were 
much  the  same  the  world  over.  We  sneaked 
out  a  little  remorseful  at  having  our  vacation 
broken  into  by  reminders  of  things  so  common- 
place and  familiar. 


[129] 


XII 


HOSPITALITY  AND  CEREMONIAL 

HE  Japanese  gentleman,  Mr.  Hidyo- 
shi,  who  lunched  with  us,  suggested 
rather  timidly  that  he  had  a  beauti- 
ful cherry  tree  in  his  garden  and  that 
he  would  very  much  like  to  have  us  spend  the 
afternoon  with  his  wife,  if  the  proposition  inter- 
ested us.  Having  made  one  or  two  faux  'pas 
early  in  our  acquaintance  through  a  failure  to 
grasp  a  few  questions  of  Japanese  etiquette  and 
class  distinction,  and  knowing  that  acceptance 
would  please  him  and  also  probably  prove  inter- 
esting to  ourselves,  we  agreed.  It  was  quite  a 
long  drive  out  to  his  home  and  at  the  foot  of  a 
hill  our  boys  asked  us  "to  take  a  little  walk'* 
— looking  rather  ashamed  of  having  done  so, 
when  they  realized  on  whom  we  went  to  call. 
On  removing  our  shoes, — much  to  the  relief 
of  the  little  maid  who  knew  it  must  be  done  yet 
feared  to  make  the  request — we  were  ushered 
into  a  very  American-looking  study,  with  desk, 
chairs  and  other  furniture  all  complete,  and 
were  received  by  our  hostess  who  spoke  only  a 
few  words  of  our  language.     She  sat  on  the  edge 

[130] 


STREET  OF  THE  EMBASSIES  AND   GOVERNMENT 
BUILDINGS  OPPOSITE  THE   PALACE,  TOKYO 


HOSPITALITY    AND    CEREMONIAL 

of  her  chair  looking  very  nervous  and  anxious, 
so  desirous  of  pleasing  and  making  herself  under- 
stood that  her  poor  little  hands  fairly  crushed 
each  other  in  her  lap.  When  we  spoke  of  the 
cherry  tree  and  an  interest  in  the  garden,  her 
face  brightened,  she  took  courage  and  invited 
us  into  the  next  room  where  we  could  see  it 
better.  That  room  being  truly  Japanese  she 
felt  more  sure  of  her  ground,  and  when  we  proved 
our  willingness  to  kneel  on  the  futons  around 
the  inevitable  hibachi  and  drink  tea  in  the  way 
to  which  she  was  accustomed,  the  timid  little 
creature  fairly  began  to  enjoy  our  visit.  Sounds 
from  the  nursery  suggested  that  we  might  ask 
to  see  the  baby  and  she  gladly  produced 
her  eldest,  a  sturdy  black-eyed,  independent 
young  man  just  able  to  walk  unaided  and  to 
speak  only  a  couple  of  words.  I  was  nearly 
betrayed  into  expressing  my  surprise  when  the 
youngster  demanded  tea  and  was  allowed  to 
drink  his  fill  quite  as  a  matter  of  course.  We  all 
fell  to  playing  with  him  and  became  so  absorbed 
that  we  forgot  to  go  until  there  was  just  time 
to  get  to  the  temple  to  see  the  famous  fire-walk- 
ing ceremony. 

As  his  mightiness  of  Toledo  immediately  pre- 
ceded us,  we  knew  we  had  chosen  the  right 
moment  for  our  arrival  and  had  the  honor  of 

[1331 


HOSPITALITY    AND    CEREMONIAL 

sitting  at  the  same  table  while  we  all  signed 
the  visitors'  book,  made  believe  drink  the  tea 
that  was  offered — having  already  had  more  of 
that  beverage  than  was  wise  in  one  day — and 
paid  the  two  yen  apiece  that  it  was  gently 
insinuated  was  customary.  The  building  was 
already  crowded,  but  our  right  of  entry  being 
of  cash  and  not  that  of  membership  in  the  church, 
we  were  led  around  to  a  raised  and  covered 
pavilion  evidently  built  for  the  occasion  just 
far  enough  from  the  street  wall  so  that  escape 
in  that  direction  in  case  of  fire  would  be  impossi- 
ble. A  few  Europeans  and  Americans  seeking 
like  ourselves  to  satisfy  curiosity  were  in  our 
immediate  vicinity ;  every  other  inch  of  available 
space  through  which  it  would  be  possible  to  so 
much  as  catch  a  glimpse,  was  filled  with  eager, 
fanatical  natives.  Below  in  the  center  of  the 
court  was  an  oblong  shaped  bed  of  coals  about 
six  by  ten  feet  in  area,  red  hot,  and  with 
two  streaks  of  flame  running  parallel  along  its 
length.  White-cotton-robed  priests,  about  a 
dozen  in  number,  bare-footed,  were  marching 
round  and  round,  exhorting  either  the  gods, 
the  people  or  the  flames  in  a  sort  of  monotonous 
chant,  some  waving  fans  and  others  throwing 
salt  on  the  flames.  After  about  three  quarters 
of  an  hour  of  these   preliminaries,   and   after 

[134] 


HOSPITALITY    AND    CEREMONIAL 

several  testings  to  see  if  the  heat  were  still  too 
intense,  the  priests  rubbed  their  feet  well  in  salt 
and   then   marched   through   several   times    in 
procession,   always  keeping  in  the  same  foot- 
steps, some  with  very  dramatic  gestures.     Mean- 
time, with  the  never-failing  "eye  to  the  main 
chance, "  a  boy  had  been  flitting  about,  selling 
charms — blessed  salt  done  up  in  small  packages 
like  flower  seeds — to  be  carried  by  those  who 
wished  to  try  the  fire-walking.     These  began 
to  flock  out  by  dozens  and  hundreds  and  form- 
ing in  line  were  privileged  to  go  a  few  at  a  time, 
fresh  supplies  of   salt   being  brought  out  and 
dumped  in  readiness  for  the  feet  in  time  for  each 
new  lot.     I  could  not  help  but  think  of  the  rosin 
boxes  supplied  in  bowling  alleys  for  the  unfortu- 
nate possessors  of  slippery  shoes.     Two  priests 
stood  on  either  side  of  the  constantly  changing 
column,  one  waving  a  fan,  the  other  striking 
sparks  from  flint  and  stone,  over  the  heads  of 
the  faithful   and  muttering  incantations   as   a 
preventive  for  burnt  feet.     Men,  women  and 
even  children  became  so  excited  that  they  could 
hardly  be  restrained  from  rushing  pell-mell  into 
the  fire.     One  mother,  afraid  to  go  herself,  sent 
her  baby  in  the  arms  of  a  priest.     A  man,  carry- 
ing a  child  in  his  arms,  put  the  little  thing's 
feet  down  into  the  bed  of  coals  just  before  reach- 
10  f  135  1 


HOSPITALITY    AND    CEREMONIAL 

ing  the  far  side  and  carried  the  shrieking  child 
away  with  a  glorified  expression  of  having  done 
all  that  mortal  could  for  the  sake  of  childish 
ignorance.  It  was  impossible  not  to  respect 
the  faith  and  courage  at  the  same  moment  as 
we  pitied  the  ignorance,  smiled  at  the  foolishness, 
and  blamed  those  who  catered  to  all  these  for 
their  own  gain.  Such  a  mixture  of  feelings 
is  exhausting,  and  we  made  our  way  out  at  the 
first  opportunity,  only  to  be  surprised  out  of  a 
state  of  coma  by  the  fervent  hand-grips  and 
brotherly  and  sisterly  good-byes  of  those  who 
had  taken  our  money  and  now  stood  like  guard- 
ian angels  (?)  on  either  side  of  the  door.  Truly, 
the  spirit  of  this  land  is  a  baffling  one,  and  I  am 
more  than  ever  thankful  for  having  read  every 
book  of  Lafcadio  Hearn's  that  I  could  lay  my 
hands  on  this  past  month,  for  he  alone  seems  to 
have  grasped  the  meaning  of  it  all  from  the 
unprejudiced  standpoint  of  a  sympathetic  out- 
sider. 

A  fitting  end  to  our  stay  in  Tokyo  was  our 
excellent  and  home-like  luncheon  with  Mrs. 
Henderson  and  her  son,  and  then  an  afternoon 
at  the  Girls'  Higher  School — corresponding  to  the 
Doshisha  in  Kyoto,  except  that  they  are  better 
equipped  and  take  older  pupils.  There  we  visited 
the  buildings  new  and  old  in  every  nook  and 

[1361 


HOSPITALITY    AND    CEREMONIAL 

corner,  and  then  had  tea  with  a  charming  group 
of  teachers,  American  and  Japanese,  in  the  Httle 
house  which  was  the  home  of  two  of  them. 
All  were  up  to  their  eyes  in  planning  the  curricu- 
lum for  the  session  which  was  to  open  on  the 
morrow — commencement  comes  just  before  Eas- 
ter here — but  never  too  busy  to  welcome  stran- 
gers from  over  seas.  An  excellent  example  of 
hospitality. 


[137] 


T 


XIII 
FUJIYAMA 

April  eleventh. 

HE  private  museum  of  Mr.  Okura  we 
left  till  the  last  morning,  and  well  it 
was  that  we  did  so  if  we  wished  to 
see  anything  else  in  Tokyo  dur- 
ing our  short  stay.  In  the  most  wonderful  col- 
lection, and  to  me  the  most  interesting,  that  I 
have  ever  seen,  he  combines  examples  of  every 
kind  and  period  of  Japanese  art,  all  arranged  with 
exquisite  taste  and  guarded  by  those  who  make 
their  care  and  appreciation  a  life  study.  Inof- 
fensive, keeping  in  the  background  till  addressed, 
a  demure  little  woman  in  her  soft  clinging 
kimono  with  down-cast  eyes,  had  an  intelligent 
answer  for  every  question  and  fairly  vibrated 
with  enthusiasm  if  we  chanced  to  admire  the 
prize  specimen  in  a  case  full  of  ivories  or  to 
exclaim  in  surprise  over  the  only  example  of 
a  certain  variety  of  gold-lacquer  work.  What 
joy  to  the  designer  to  be  able  to  go  there  day 
after  day  to  sketch,  and  the  owner,  strange  to 
say,  is  glad  to  have  those  who  can  appreciate 
come  there  for  inspiration. 

[138] 


FUJIYAMA 

The  train  had  to  be  caught  as  it  was  just 
forty-eight  hours  till  the  steamer  sailed  from 
Yokohama,  there  were  many  final  details  to  be 
attended  to  besides  repacking  and  we  had  post- 
poned leaving  Tokyo  till  the  last  possible  minute. 
We  were  even  forced  into  cutting  out  the  long 
looked-forward-to  trip  to  Nikko,  partly  owing 
to  the  continued  cold  weather  it  is  true,  partly 
from  distaste  for  long  railway  journeys  that  had 
to  be  made  hurriedly,  and  also  because  Nikko's 
art  was  more  modern  and  appeared  to  be  of  the 
variety  that  required  leisure  to  enjoy.  We  also 
had  found  our  week  in  Tokyo  all  too  short  for 
the  things  to  be  enjoyed — at  this  season  espe- 
cially. 

The  fast  trains  take  less  than  an  hour  and  run 
frequently.  On  arrival,  we  were  surprised  not 
only  at  the  familiarity  of  everything  as  we  drove 
from  station  to  hotel,  but  also  to  find  that,  after 
all,  Yokohama  was  a  pleasant  city.  The  Euro- 
pean hats  with  native  costume,  the  trolleys  and 
stone  buildings  had  ceased  to  annoy  because  we 
had  stopped  seeing  them,  and  the  change  in 
weather  had  not  only  brought  a  change  in  color- 
ing to  trees  and  flowers,  but  was  equally  marked 
in  shop  windows  and  stalls  which  now  seemed  as 
alluring  as  they  had  seemed  unattractive  before. 

[1391 


FUJIYAMA 

April  thirteenth. 
S.  S.  Korea. 

Our  one  full  day  was  to  be  devoted  to  out  of 
town  excursions  and  in  order  to  squeeze  into  it 
as  much  as  possible  we  secured  an  automobile 
at  the  moderate  sum  of  forty -five  yen.  We 
started  at  8 :  30  in  a  car  belonging  to  the  Oriental. 
The  chauffeur,  very  careful  and  a  good  driver, 
spoke  not  a  word  of  English,  but  had  been  in- 
structed as  to  exactly  where  to  go,  and  armed 
with  the  word  solo-solo  (slower)  in  case  of  need, 
we  felt  fully  equipped  and  rather  glad  that  we 
were  free  to  talk  without  having  our  conversa- 
tion either  listened  to  or  interrupted. 

The  roads  were  fair  and  wound  around  hills, 
past  rice-fields,  temples  and  villages,  under 
weeping  willows  and  cherry  trees,  till  it  was  hard 
to  believe  the  landscape  was  not  fashioned  for 
our  special  pleasure.  At  the  end  of  a  couple 
of  hours,  our  driver  said  "Kamakura"  and 
stopped  midway  of  the  long  tree-shaded  avenue 
that  leads  from  the  Temple  of  Hachiman  (the 
great  war  god)  to  the  sea.  We  were  well  repaid 
for  climbing  the  steps  as  well  as  for  the  walk, 
by  the  view  obtained  of  town  and  water  and 
were  soon  threading  our  way  in  and  out  through 
back  streets  until  we  finally  drew  up  before  an 

[1401 


FUJIYAMA 

unusually  fine  Dai-butsu  (great  Buddha)  but, 
as  Miss  Scidmore  had  warned  us,  badly  located. 
We  secured  a  good  picture  of  him  before  being 
accosted  by  a  small  boy  with  a  card  on  which 
it  was  stated  in  precise  English  that  taking 
of  photographs  in  the  neighborhood  was  for- 
bidden. As  nothing  further  was  done  about  it 
we  decided  that  it  was  a  game  of  bluff  to  protect 
the  priests  who  had  pictures  for  sale  at  the 
entrance.  We  stepped  inside  but  there  was 
nothing  to  see,  so  we  bought  some  rice-cakes, 
to  stay  the  pangs  of  hunger  (not  yet  felt)  and 
getting  into  the  car  again  proceeded  to  the  island 
of  Enoshima  which  is  approached  over  a  long 
foot  bridge,  well  exposed  to  the  sun.  In  spite 
of  this,  however,  it  is  a  most  popular  resort  for 
holiday-makers  in  hot  weather.  From  here  on 
the  ride  to  Miyanoshita,  grew  steadily  more 
beautiful  until  we  finally  reached  the  foot  of 
the  hill  up  which  we  wound  slowly  and  with 
effort  as  the  road  is  narrow  and  the  ascent  steep, 
but  in  no  place  dangerous.  We  met  no  other 
cars  and  only  two  vehicles  drawn  by  horses, 
but  many  large  parties  of  school  children  carry- 
ing their  luncheons  and  accompanied  by  teachers. 
History  is  taught  on  excursions.  A  few  parties 
in  Kuruma  or  I  should  say  with  kuruma,  as  with 
but  two  exceptions  the  parties  thus  provided 

[1411 


FUJIYAMA 

were  "taking  a  little  walk."  Occasionally  we 
met  a  very  uncomfortable  man  or  woman  in  a 
kago  swaying  and  tossing  from  side  to  side. 
For  the  hillside  itself  I  am  at  a  loss  for  adjectives. 
Every  known  shade  of  green;  cherry  trees  bud- 
ding, in  full  bloom,  and  ready  to  fall ;  red  maples 
budding  and  already  leafed.  When  I  finally 
turned  to  A.  and  remarked  that  it  would  make  a 
lovely  picture,  I  came  to  earth  with  a  thud 
at  her  answer — "if  I  saw  a  picture  of  it  I  should 
call  it  a  chromo!"  Go  and  see  for  yourself  and 
be  sure  to  go  at  spring  time. 

At  the  Fujiya  Hotel  we  had  a  good  lunch  and 
a  new  point  of  view.  I  approached  the  desk 
before  leaving  and  asked  if  I  might  pay  for  our 
lunch.  The  cashier  said  "three  yen"  and  then 
asked  in  all  seriousness,  "did  you  have  any 
refreshment?"  to  which  at  my  look  of  bewilder- 
ment he  added,  "anything  to  drink?" 

Wood  carving  is  the  mania  in  this  locality 
and  many  beautiful  and  curious  forms  it  takes. 
The  secret  boxes  are  so  wonderfully  exact  as 
to  be  difficult  to  open  even  after  one  knows  the 
secret. 

We  reached  home  in  the  late  afternoon  almost 
thankful  that  sailing  on  the  morrow  would  give 
us  time  to  fully  digest  all  we  had  seen,  heard  and 

[1421 


FUJIYAMA 

felt  before  any  new  sensation  could  be  forced 
upon  us. 

Another  mistake,  for  we  had  reckoned  without 
Fujiyama.  That  parting  was  still  to  be  gone 
through  with.  Those  who  sail  away  from  Japan 
without  feasting  their  eyes  on  that  largest  and 
grandest  of  her  wonders  never  return,  so  legend 
tells  us. 

The  afternoon  was  so  hazy  that  at  first  we 
feared  the  omens  were  against  us.  Then  we 
began  faintly  to  discern  this  huge  mountain  of 
snow  with  its  crater-like  top,  and  as  we  drew 
further  away  the  outline  grew  clearer.  The  sur- 
roundings melted  until  Fuji  stood  alone,  his 
feet  buried  in  clouds,  these  again  resting  on  the 
water.  We  looked  and  looked  feeling  that  now 
was  the  time  to  make  the  impression  indelible. 
We  must  carry  it  away  so  fixed  that  we  could 
never  lose  it.  Beautiful  as  it  was,  a  greater 
treat  was  in  store  for  us,  for  with  the  setting  sun, 
this  beautiful  mass  of  snowy  whiteness  was 
changed  to  molten  gold.  The  distance  grew 
greater,  the  darkness  deeper,  until  the  vision 
was  finally  lost  to  sight.  With  a  sigh  and  a 
feeling  of  loss  we  answered  the  bugle  call  and 
went  to  dress  for  dinner. 


143 


XIV 
FAREWELL  TO  NIPPON 

April  twentieth. 
AN  this  be  really  I?"  I  quoted  from 
the  old  woman  in  Mother  Goose. 
Never  before  have  I  renewed  ac- 
quaintance with  any  ship  without 
a  feeling  of  keen  disgust  and  an  unsurmount- 
able  horror  of  sea-sickness.  The  Korea,  with  its 
spotless  cleanliness,  its  absolute  freedom  from 
all  odors,  pleasant  officers  who  do  everything 
for  one's  comfort  without  ever  growing  officious, 
seemed  like  an  old  and  well-met  friend.  The 
passengers  are  fewer  than  on  the  way  out,  leav- 
ing more  deck-room  and  more  freedom.  The 
ocean  is  like  a  mill-pond  and  even  when  occa- 
sionally stirred  by  the  winds  the  ship  is  so  steady 
and  well  ballasted  that  any  who  would  complain 
must  indeed  be  looking  for  trouble.  The  B. 
and  G.  are  still  on  board  and  have  made  the 
round  trip.  She  now  walks  occasionally  with 
the  other  men,  but  they  are  as  devoted  as  ever 
and  think  as  little  of  embracing  in  public  as 
when  they  started.  If  she  says  anything  par- 
ticularly  pleasing,   or   makes   a   good   shot   at 

f  144  1 


FAREWELL    TO    NIPPON 

shuffle-board,  he  still  throws  his  arms  around  her 
and  gives  her  a  resounding  smack. 

There  are  a  number  of  charming  ladies  on  board 
and  one  Irish  Lady — not  born,  created.  She  and 
her  companion  are  our  vis  a  vis  at  table  so  we 
get  full  benefit.  According  to  her  own  accounts 
she  was  the  "pet  of  the  boat"  when  crossing 
on  the  Princess  Alice  and  is  much  disappointed 
and  pained  at  the  lack  of  discernment  on  the 
part  of  passengers  and  officers  that  such  is  not 
her  present  position.  Her  idea  of  conversation 
is  to  "catch"  while  others  throw  bunches  of 
flattery  and  no  matter  how  thickly  it  is  handed 
out  she  is  never  satisfied,  but  swallows  it  whole 
and  returns  promptly  for  more.  The  men  are 
all  brave  enough  when  introduced,  but  soon  tire 
and  make  their  escape  never  to  return.  Her 
capacity  for  exaggeration  also  is  infinite  and  we 
are  grateful  to  the  lady  for  much  entertain- 
ment— however  unintentional.  For  instance,  if 
some  one  sends  to  offer  the  Captain  a  cocktail, 
she  tells  how  on  the  Princess  Alice  several  were 
sent  to  her  room  every  night.  That  was  ex- 
plained by  some  one  who  knew  her  past  as 
being  because  her  husband  had  the  reputation 
of  never  being  sober  after  eleven  o'clock  of  a 
morning.  Or  if  a  lady  at  another  table  sent 
the  Captain  a  note,  she  used  to  have  so  many 

[145] 


FAREWELL    TO    NIPPON 

"billets  doux"  on  the  Princess  Alice  that  she 
would  stick  them  in  her  belt  and  forget  them  and 
when  she  removed  her  skirt  they  would  fall  like 
a  snow-storm. 

For  further  diversion  we  had  the  "Mexican 
Army,"  two  very  dapper  and  correct  young  men^ 
one  English,  the  other  French,  and  both  with 
the  monocle  habit,  who  are  said  to  be  on  their 
way  to  Mexico  to  volunteer.  I  had  about  given 
up  my  proposed  trip  there  on  account  of  the 
disturbed  state  of  the  country,  but  every  one 
assures  me  that  with  them  on  hand  I  should 
surely  be  quite  safe. 

Then  we  have  a  tall,  thin,  sick-looking  couple 
with  haunted  looking  eyes,  who  claim  to  be 
English  but  who  have  been  nicknamed  the 
Russian  refugees. 

The  Jay  Bird,  from  Charleston,  talks  for  hours 
on  scandal  in  New  York  high  life,  whispering^ 
confidences  on  people  whom  I  know  much 
better  than  he  does  and  condescendingly  sug- 
gests I  may  have  heard  of  them. 

We  are  fortunate  in  our  deck  neighbors.  On 
one  side  a  "perfectly  good  Mish,"  an  attractive 
American  girl,  with  a  sense  of  humor,  who  has 
lived  most  of  her  life  in  South  Africa,  been 
educated  in  England,  is  stationed  in  Heroshima 
and  is  now  on  her  way  to  spend  her  vacation  with 

[146] 


FAREWELL    TO    NIPPON 

a  grandmother  in  New  Jersey ;  on  the  other,  two 
Englishmen,  father  and  son,  poHshed  gentlemen 
both.  The  former  having  spent  twenty -five 
years  in  India  and  much  travelled,  is  delightfully 
cosmopolitan  and  thoroughly  understands  and 
appreciates  America  and  Americans.  The  son 
is  a  nice  boy,  but  hopelessly  British  so  that  we 
find  it  rather  difficult  to  stay  in  the  same  week 
with  him  in  conversation. 

The  only  novelty  so  far  has  been  the  picking 
up  of  the  day  we  dropped  into  the  ocean  on  the 
way  out,  only  it  proved  to  be  Thursday  this 
time  so  we  had  two  of  them. 

April  twenty-seventh. 

Our  day  in  Honolulu  was  so  hot  that  we  did 
not  do  much  besides  a  few  errands  and  ride 
around  in  trolleys  and  keep  cool. 

A  horde  of  strangers  came  on  board  there  and 
the  boat  does  not  seem  nearly  so  homelike. 
All  or  nearly  all  the  "first  families"  have 
grouches,  on  account  of  having  a  third  person 
put  in  a  cabin  which  was  barely  big  enough  for 
two  and  there  is  a  feeling  of  crowding  everywhere. 
The  *'  Mexican  Army  "could  not  bear  the  thought 
of  another  room-mate  or  of  "giving  up"  the 
necessary  amount  for  sole  possession,  and  so 
have  left  us.     What  is  to  become  of  Mexico? 

[147 


FAREWELL    TO    NIPPON 

As  there  are  many  young  people  they  have  a 
dance  every  night  on  the  upper  deck,  which 
make  the  lounge  and  music  room  less  crowded 
than  they  otherwise  would  be. 

One  night  a  Chinese  play  by  members  of  the 
crew  was  well  given  and  enjoyable. 

The  reports  over  the  wireless  of  the  appalling 
disaster  to  the  S.  S.  Titanic  have  horrified  and 
depressed  the  passengers,  but  it  does  not  seem 
to  have  caused  any  personal  fear,  probably 
because  with  such  calm  seas  and  glorious  sun- 
shine it  is  hard  to  conceive  a  possibility  of 
danger  on  this  truly  pacific  ocean.  We  were 
promised  two  or  three  days  of  fog  before  reaching 
the  Californian  coast,  but  even  that  has  been 
lacking.  The  fog-horn  has  only  been  heard  as  a 
signal  for  fire-drill  and  as  we  see  our  native  land 
once  more  we  feel  that  this  voyage  has  been  as 
unique  as  it  has  been  pleasant. 


148 


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